Korea Briefing

This new edition of Korea Briefing provides a timely analysis of the evolving relationship between South and North Korea. In June 2000, after years of ignoring the South Korean government, the North Korean leader Kim Jong II finally agreed to a summit meeting with South Korea's President Kim Dae Jung. As a sign of reconciliation, the summit meeting has prompted Korea and its neighbors to rethink the assumptions of the Cold War era. With contributions by a multi-national panel of Koreanexperts, the book discusses a wide range of topics, including South Korean politics and economy; Korea's relations with its neighbors and with the United States; recent changes in North Korea; the fate of North Korean defectors; and lessons in German reunification for the two Koreas. The discussions are supplemented by a glossary, a chronology of events occurring from June 1999 to June 2001, and a bibliography. Introduction: Toward the Elusive Goal of Reconciliation and Reunification; The End of History, the Rise of Ideology, and the Pursuit of Inter-Korean Reconciliation; The Economic Outlook for Reconciliation and Reunification; The New North Korea; China, Japan, and Russia in Inter-Korean Relations; U.S. Policy Toward the Inter-Korean Dialogue; The Mellowing of North Korean Power: Lessons of Reconciliation and Unification for Korea from Germany; North Korean Defectors: A Window into a Reunified Korea; July 1999–June 2001: A Chronology