NSPR14: A Peace Regime on the Korean Peninsula

Overview



The EAI Center for Diplomacy and National Security organizes the National Security Panel (chaired by EAI Director Ha Young-sun), comprising domestic and international experts in diplomacy and national security. The panel publishes the National Security Panel Report Series, which offers in-depth analyses of major diplomatic and security issues along with practical policy alternatives.

This 14th NSP report is the first in the "Roadmap for a Korean Peninsula Peace Regime" series. It is based on the National Security Panel's seven-month intensive study, conducted from September 2005 immediately after the Six-Party Talks, examining the interrelationships between North Korea's denuclearization, coercive diplomacy, economic assistance, normalization of relations, North Korean human rights, and a peace regime.The report is titled "A Peace Regime on the Korean Peninsula" and was primarily authored by Professor Chun Jae-sung (Department of Diplomacy, Seoul National University).

This report examines the context and historical development of discussions surrounding a "peace regime on the Korean Peninsula," as raised during the 4th Six-Party Talks in September 2005. It analyzes the starkly contrasting views on a peace regime held by North Korea and the United States. Furthermore, it explores methods to resolve conflicts and present practical alternatives within a tripartite conflict structure, where North Korea advocates for a Juche- and Suryong-centered peace theory, the U.S. promotes a liberal peace theory, and South Korea champions its own peace theory.

Specifically, the establishment of a peace regime can be discussed as a prerequisite for substantial progress in North Korean denuclearization, and it can proceed as North Korea undergoes openness and gradual regime reform. Therefore, it is argued that it is necessary to create a multilateral environment that allows North Korea to pursue reform, openness, and denuclearization without perceiving its regime security as threatened.

"South Korea needs to recognize that the issue of a peace regime is not solely a Korean Peninsula matter but also an international one. The international foundation for a peace regime will be established when the interests of the surrounding countries and the conditions for peace on the Korean Peninsula are met." (From the text)

Author

Chun Jae-sung, EAI Research Fellow