This study examines overseas cases that provide reference points to the peace process on the Korean Peninsula from a comparative perspective, highlighting the role of Congress in the peace process. Through this, it explores the role of the National Assembly in the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, and draws implications in preparing for future inter-Korean parliamentary talks.
The study begins with a historical evaluation of the inter-Korean parliamentary talks, which failed to hold the plenary session after two preliminary contacts in 1985 and 10 preparatory contacts in 1988-89.
Considering the nature of the peace process, which has gone through a repeated sequence of progress and regress in the peaceful resolution of long-term and chronic conflicts, efforts to enhance accountability and legitimacy through comprehensive and democratic public debate among various conflicting parties are essential to overcoming further deadlocks in the peace process and realizing the institutionalization of a more stable peace. This study focuses on the role of Congress in the peace process for enhancing stability and democracy, and explores the direction and alternatives of the National Assembly in the future peace process on the Korean Peninsula.
Along with the historical evaluation of the inter-Korean parliamentary talks, the study examines the theoretical literature on federalism and comparative peace processes and analyzes overseas examples of the role of Congress in peace processes. The theoretical discussions of federalism and consociationalism offer a general perspective to the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, and contribute to reflecting on and reviewing the peace process on the Korean Peninsula from the reference points extracted from other historical peace processes. Based on the literature on federalism and the comparative analysis of peace processes, this study analyzes the progress and regression of the peace process on the Korean Peninsula from a more universal perspective, and raises new questions and directions for resolution, combined with institutional and policy proposals.
As reference examples in the search for the role of the National Assembly in the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, the study analyzes three cases of peace processes: the cross-strait relations, the Irish peace process, and the Germany-France reconciliation and cooperation. Each case has distinct features in terms of the structure of the conflict and the agreement and implementation processes of peaceful coexistence or integration between the conflicting parties. Nonetheless, all three cases have comparative implications for the role of the National Assembly in the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.
Cross-strait relations have developed exchanges and cooperation in economic, social, and cultural areas since the post-Cold War based on ‘each side’s interpretation’ of ‘one China’ (‘92 consensus’). However, based on differences between political systems, the polarization of Taiwan’s domestic politics with regard to relations with China, and the changes in Xi Jinping’s second term in China’s “peaceful unification” policy, the bilateral relations are characterized by a non-zero-sum confrontation at the military and political level despite various human and social contacts. In addition, in the cross-strait relations, the parliamentary exchanges and cooperation show a structural asymmetry as they developed between members of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan and members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, or the organization of the “unification front.” The bilateral relations of the deepening military and political confrontation in the face of the recent U.S.-China strategic competition provide good implications for parliamentary exchanges in the context of the distinct political system between the two Koreas and the continuous political and military confrontation after the armistice.
The Irish peace process has suffered a chronic conflict of colonization,
division, and violence, features it has in common with the Korean Peninsula. While the peace process for the transition of structural conflict has to be continued, the significance of the Irish peace process lies in the fact that it has made clear progress in ending the historical violence. The Irish case is a consociational model for the institutionalization of sustainable peace through the participation of all parties to the conflict. With the revision of the constitution followed by the referendum, which replaced the previous territorial clauses and highlighted the will of the majority of the people for reunification as the foundation for a path toward reunification, the Irish peace process was consolidated as stable and democratic. The recent deadlock caused by the extreme political parties after the peace treaty established through a “power-sharing” mechanism calls for ongoing peacebuilding efforts for a “post-peace agreement,” but the parties’ willingness to comply with the peace process itself persists, which confirms the strength of the consociational model.
The example of French-German reconciliation and cooperation shows cooperation between the two countries based on a European context that promoted long-term and multi-layered European integration while developing the transnational institutional design from the early days of integration. The recent process of the two countries’ unprecedentedly strengthened cooperation for promoting the joint parliamentary assembly under the Inter-Parliamentary Agreement can be seen as a response to the crisis of European integration as well as a model example of Parliamentary initiatives on the issue of peace and integration. Moreover, the policy efforts considered important in the process of European integration and French-German cooperation, including youth and cross-border exchange and cooperation programs, have significant implications for the National Assembly’s initiating role in the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.
The study insists that in the process of peace on the Korean Peninsula, the National Assembly is required to have its own initiative on the national goals of “peaceful unification policy” stipulated in Article 4 of the Constitution as a constitutional institution. Drawing from theoretical literature of federalism and consociationalism, as well as from the analyses of overseas cases, the study proposes three directions and alternatives.
First, the National Assembly should establish a consociational principle that encompasses all parties to the peace process on the Korean Peninsula participating at the negotiating table from the mid-to-long-term perspective of peace and integration on the Korean Peninsula. The National Assembly, as the representative organization of the people, is a space that covers divisions and confrontations in Korean society related to the peace process on the Korean Peninsula and future integration. It can contribute to the establishment of collective recognition and responsibility through the implementation of consociational principles in which all conflicting parties communicate and argue as equal entities.
Second, the National Assembly needs to make concrete progress in institutionalizing the peace process as a legislative body that gives democratic legitimacy and stability to the peace process on the Korean Peninsula. As a policy partner, not in struggling but in exchanging relations with the administration, the legislature should function independently in the issues of peace and integration on the Korean Peninsula through reviewing and revising inter-Korean agreements and domestic laws.
Third, the National Assembly shall secure a democratic foundation for the peace process at the policy level, along with the implementation of consociational principles, and the improvement of the laws and systems of the peace process. It specifically needs to design and promote policies that contribute to the preparation of peace and integration from the perspective of future generations. By discovering and supporting various programs of youth education, culture, environment, and civil society, and by promoting wide-ranging participation of society including women, border areas, or local small towns, the National Assembly can contribute to enhancing the stability of the peace process and democracy through “investment” for future integration, rather than being trapped in a polarized confrontation over the current peace process and integration of the Korean Peninsula. Through preparations for peace and integration from the perspective of future generations, the National Assembly can lay the groundwork for “bipartisan cooperation” and lead the moral imagination of peace and integration, new narratives, and identities in the future.
> Future Research > Future Reports > Research Reports