Inter-Korean

During the second inter-Korean summit in 2007, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il discussed, among other issues, building military trust and establishing special peace and cooperation zones in the West Sea. In the years leading up to the summit, South and North Korean military officials spent considerable time discussing these…

Over the last half decade, the Korean Peninsula has seen the prospect of war during Donald Trump’s period of “fire and fury,” but also a period of negotiations that resulted in a series of North-South and U.S.-North Korea summits. While war was avoided, those efforts at negotiation ultimately failed. The aftermath of those failed negotiations,…

President-elect Yoon’s transition team announced a plan to designate North Korea as the “main enemy” following recent missile tests. This reaffirmed Yoon’s campaign promise to pursue a tougher stance against Pyongyang. The designation has a history – one that reflects Seoul’s short-term outlook on the prospect of inter-Korean engagement. Seoul first designated Pyongyang as the…

What Happened: In January, a man who had defected to South Korea in 2020 returned to North Korea. Subsequently, the South Korean government launched an interagency team to further assist defectors with employment, education, and psychological concerns. Traditionally, the government’s focus has largely revolved around providing defector-migrants with economic assistance. Implication: South Korea’s public policy…