Lessons From Eastern Europe Political Transitions For Reunification Of The Korean Peninsula

The political circumstances of Korean reunification will significantly determine the political environment for future public administration. This paper argues this context will create parameters for governments to implement the exercise of sovereignty over the united Korean peninsula. Pan-Korean nationalism will be exploited as a political mobilization resource for creating the foundations for reintegrating a pan- Korean state and society. A reunited national community will be upon shared historical commonalities. They will serve to mobilize political cooperation after nearly 70 years of separate development under radically opposed political and economic regimes. The North’s vestiges will likely remain in the form of organized crime networks in a post-reunification state. Peace strategists should prepare to respond to the political tendency to manipulate and exploit anti-Japanese symbolic appeals by Korean political entrepreneurs. The latter will do so to mobilize prospective supporters both in North and South Korea. Some relevant comparisons with East European cases of transition from Communism provide insights into what to expect.