Issues & Perspective No. 1: Economic Means for Resolving the North Korean Nuclear Issue - Effects and Limitations of Compensation and Sanctions

Overview

The EAI North Korea Research Panel (Chair: Ryu Gil-jae, Professor at the Graduate School of North Korean Studies, Kyungnam University) is engaged in research activities centered on the overarching theme of North Korea's survival and change, exploring various sub-topics. The panel publishes its research reports under the title "Issues & Perspective."

The title of this first report in the "Issues & Perspective" series is "Economic Means for Resolving the North Korean Nuclear Issue: Effects and Limitations of Compensation and Sanctions," and it was primarily authored by Park Jong-cheol, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification's Division of Inter-Korean Relations Research.

Park Jong-cheol argues that economic means, whether through compensation or pressure, have limitations in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. This is because security issues like the nuclear problem cannot be reduced to economic issues, and a framework for policy analysis that considers situational diversity is necessary. He posits that views emphasizing economic means, whether compensation or sanctions, overlook the unique nature of security problems, specifically their non-substitutability.

"While economic means may have complementary and partial effects in nuclear negotiations, they cannot be the sole means because, fundamentally, security issues possess a unique nature. Economic means can serve a complementary or mediating function in resolving security issues, but they cannot entirely substitute for them. Security issues possess qualitative characteristics distinct from economic issues, thus they cannot be replaced by economic problems. Power and security exhibit non-substitutability, meaning they are difficult to transform into other forms or combine with other types of resources to achieve objectives. This contrasts with economic problems, where money possesses substitutability, allowing it to be easily converted and utilized as a means to achieve goals." (Excerpt from the text)