Sunshine Policy
| Sunshine Policy | |
| Hangul | 햇볕 정책 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 햇볕 政策 |
| Revised Romanization | Haetbyeot jeongchaek |
| McCune–Reischauer | Haetpyŏt chŏngch'aek |
The Sunshine Policy was the foreign policy of South Korea towards North Korea from 1998 to 2008.
Since its articulation by South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, the policy resulted in greater political contact between the two States and some historic moments in Inter-Korean relations; the two Korean summit meetings in Pyongyang (June 2000 and October 2007) which broke ground, several high-profile business ventures, and brief meetings of family members separated by the Korean War.
In 2000, Kim Dae-jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his successful implementation of the Sunshine Policy.
The main aim of the policy was to soften North Korea's attitudes towards the South by encouraging interaction and economic assistance.
The national security policy had three basic principles:
These principles were meant to convey the message that the South does not wish to absorb the North or to undermine its government; its goal was peaceful co-existence rather than regime change.
Kim's administration also outlined two other major policy components. The first was the separation of politics and economics. In practice, this meant that the South loosened restrictions on its private sector to invest in North Korea, limiting its own involvement essentially to humanitarian aid. This was initially meant both to improve the North's economy and to induce change in the North's economic policy, though the latter goal was later (at least officially) de-emphasized.
The second component was the requirement of reciprocity from the North. Initially it was intended that the two States would treat each other as equals, each making concessions and compromises. Perhaps most criticism of the policy stemmed from the significant backpedaling by the South on this principle in the face of unexpected rigidity from the North. It ran into trouble just two months into the Sunshine era, when South Korea requested the creation of a reunion center for divided families in exchange for fertilizer assistance; North Korea denounced this as horse trading and cut off talks. A year later the South announced its goal would be "flexible reciprocity" based on Confucian values; as the "elder brother" of the relationship the South would provide aid without expecting an immediate reciprocation and without requesting a specific form of reciprocity. The South also announced that it would provide humanitarian assistance without any expectations of concessions in return.
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