In the first inter-Korean summit since the conclusion of the Korean War in 1953, North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung met on June 13, 2000, in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital. After decades of dispute between the nations, the summit marked a high point in diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula and has yet to be achieved since.
The meeting in 2000, which focused on humanitarian issues such as the displacement of families and the imprisonment of political opponents, was emblematic of the Sunshine Policy of South Korea.
Introduced in 1998 by South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung, the Sunshine Policy advocated for economic cooperation with and the diplomatic embrace of North Korea. Dae-Jung won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts towards the summit and the promotion of human rights more generally.
The Sunshine Policy was abandoned in 2010 under South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. A series of summits between the two countries’ leaders, some of which included U.S. President Donald Trump, took place in 2018 and 2019, but were ultimately unsuccessful in reestablishing ties between the nations.
Current South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, elected in 2022, has operated in a confrontationist manner with regard to North Korea. Embracing Western military and economic ties, the conservative head of state has pursued diplomacy with South Korea’s long-term rival and U.S. ally, Japan, to deter North Korean military activity in the region.
Additionally, on April 29, 2023, President Yoon Suk Yeol reaffirmed the nation’s commitment to the Treaty for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, agreeing to remain a nonnuclear weapons state by signing a “Washington Declaration” alongside U.S. President Joe Biden.
North Korea, however, continues to draw international condemnation. On May 31, the dictatorial nation attempted to launch a spy satellite in a breach of United Nations security protocol. The surveillance craft malfunctioned minutes after takeoff and crashed in the Yellow Sea, where it was partially recovered by the South Korean military.
Prominent members of the U.N., such as Japan and the U.S., condemned the launch but notably, China and Russia, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, abstained from judgment.
Drawn in 1953 near the 38th Parallel, the border between North and South Korea represents a greater, ideological divide, with the pro-democracy nations like the U.S. and Japan on one side and oligarchical countries such as China and Russia firmly planted on the other. This boundary comes into full view as the Indo-Pacific becomes a focal point of international politics and questions whether peace in the Korean peninsula is a possible outcome.
Anthony Bringaze 