German Unification and the Political Order – Thirty Years Later
The history of the post-war division of Germany marks an important point of reference for inter-Korean politics. Both, South Korean president Roh Tae-woo’s Nordpolitik starting in 1988 and South Korean president Kim Dae-jung’s Sunshine Policy (The Reconciliation and Cooperation Policy Towards the No...
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Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
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Korea Europe Review: an interdisciplinary journal of politics, society, and economics
2021
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Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.48770/ker.2021.no1.6 https://korea-europe-review.org/index.php/ker/article/view/6 |
Summary: | The history of the post-war division of Germany marks an important point of reference for inter-Korean politics. Both, South Korean president Roh Tae-woo’s Nordpolitik starting in 1988 and South Korean president Kim Dae-jung’s Sunshine Policy (The Reconciliation and Cooperation Policy Towards the North) of 1998 seem to have been directly inspired by West German Chancellor Willy Brandt’s so-called Neue Ostpolitik (New Eastern Policy) based on Egon Bahr’s concept of Wandel durch Annäherung (change through rapproachment), an early and perhaps decisive step in the de-escalation of the Cold War. Today, the peaceful transition of East Germany toward democracy and the subsequent German unification continue to provide a hopeful historical example that peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula may be attainable. : Korea Europe Review: an interdisciplinary journal of politics, society, and economics, No. 1 (2021): Korea Europe Review |
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