Sunshine policy kim dae jung quotes

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of South Korea. Korean reunification Sunshine policy Administrative divisions Human rights Foreign relations. Politics Portal. Articulated in by then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung , this policy emphasized peaceful cooperation, seeking short-term reconciliation as a prelude to eventual Korean reunification.

During the decade of its implementation, political contact between the two nations increased, several high-profile business ventures launched, and brief meetings of separated family members were facilitated. Kim Dae-jung inaugurated his Sunshine policy in a vastly improved climate from the authoritarian South Korean regimes before South Korea 's economy had developed into one of the strongest in the world, enabling South Korea to shoulder more and more of it's own defense.

The successful Seoul Olympics of , and the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and China shortly afterwards, raised South Korea's international reputation and eliminated North Korea's key support. In , Kim Young-sam's election marked the beginning of friendly democratic rule in South Korea followed by Kim Dae-jung's election in , marking a friendly approach toward North Korea.

However, critics of the Sunshine policy argued that the policy ignored the fundamentally repressive and belligerent nature of North Korea, resulting in propping up the regime of Kim Jong-il. The term "Sunshine policy" originates in one of Aesop 's fables. In the fable, the sun and the wind compete to remove a man's coat. The wind blew strongly, but the man clutched his coat and kept it on.

"The reason why the

The sun shone warmly, and the man voluntarily took off his coat to enjoy the fine weather. The policy aimed mainly to soften North Korea's attitudes towards the South by encouraging interaction and economic assistance. Those principles convey the message that the South respects the North's sovereignty and will refrain from undermining its government.

The South maintains the goal of peaceful co-existence rather than regime change or re-unification, though a unified Korea still exists as an implicit long-term goal of South Korea.