Summary
This volume brings together the work of ten leading experts on Korean politics to critically analyze the key factors and issues that are shaping a newly emerging security regime on and around the Korean peninsula. The Korean security regime is undergoing a swift structural change at the beginning of the 21st century. South Korea’s policy towards North Korea has fundamentally changed under the Kim Dae Jung government, and the North, which has long been isolated, is aggressively reaching out to the international community. The US, China, and Japan changed their approach to the Korean peninsula in response to these initiatives by the two Koreas. The historic summit meeting in June 2000 between the two Koreas, Kim Jong Il’s rare foreign visits, the resumed diplomatic normalization talks between North Korea and Japan, and the United States’ engagement policy toward North Korea are all the result of new approaches to the Korean peninsula. All these developments will restructure the security dynamics on the Korean peninsula in the coming years. Using first-hand knowledge and personal observations gleaned from visits to North Korea, Japan, South Korea, and China, the contributors examine emerging inter-Korean security relations, US-Korean security relations, and the dynamics among major powers that affect the security of both Koreas.