This book explores the state of play on the Korean peninsula, where old conflicts remain latent. Regarding security on the Korean Peninsula, however, this book challenges the belief that the internal affairs of states should be discounted and posits that to have a fuller perspective of comprehensive peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula, all aspects of the security spectrum should be considered from the perspective of both challenges to building peace and opportunities for doing so. In particular, the internal governance functioning of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) regime will be considered, as well as the intersection between regime security, economic development and distributive justice, and South Korean perceptional, ideational, and bottom-up approaches to peace on the Korean Peninsula. Hence, this book will be of interest to scholars of the region, journalists and peace-makers.

“This is a must-read book for anyone searching for insight into the peace process of the divided Korean peninsula. As a peace researcher and activist, the author highlights the role of civil society in making peacebuilding possible and sustainable on the Korean peninsula. This volume opens a new horizon to the study of peace and conflict.” —Koo, Kab Woo, Professor, University of North Korean Studies “This book makes an enormous contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of peace and conflict on the Korean peninsula and expands our understanding of the requirements of sustainable peacebuilding. The emphasis on the role of civil society as part of an inclusive approach to strategic peacebuilding is especially helpful.”—Iain Atack, Assistant Professor in International Peace Studies, Trinity College Dublin “This expertly crafted book makes an original contribution to understanding peacebuilding theory and the critical role of civil society in strategic peacebuilding. It offers valuable lessons and hope for peaceful transformation of the Korean conflict as well as the negotiation of a sustainable peace in other protracted conflict settings.”—Wendy Lambourne, Senior Lecturer, Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney The Post-Cold War era witnessed a dramatic rise in breakthroughs for peace processes, including the Korean peninsula, between parties mired in protracted conflict. However, many such processes broke down within a short period of time. This book explores the possibilities for comprehensive and sustainable peacebuilding strategy in the Korean peace process, beyond reaching an agreement, by reviewing diverse peacebuilding activities from government and civil society.

"A joint statement by the United States and North Korea in June 2018 declared that the two countries were committed to building 'a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.' Such a peace regime will ultimately require the engagement and cooperation of not just North Korea and the United States, but also South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan. This report outlines the perspectives and interests of each of these countries as well as the diplomatic, security, and economic components necessary for a comprehensive peace" -- Publisher's web site.

This book delivers an in-depth analysis of the US-DPRK Peace Treaty which will be concluded as a final result of the Korean Peninsula peace process that is currently ongoing. Since North Korea launched its nuclear weapons development program in the early 1990s, the Korean peninsula has become a critical point of global politics along with the Sino-American (G2) hegemonic competition. The US-DPRK Peace Treaty is the key to the denuclearization and de jure peace on the peninsula as well as Northeast Asia. Different from the comprehensive peace treaty between the four parties (US, China, and the two Koreas) already proposed for the past few years, the book suggests a ‘bilateral’ approach to the agreement between the US and the DPRK, which will trigger the peace as a system considering the US’s practices in this regard after 1783. Such a challenging and provocative method provides deeper understanding of the legal and political circumstances for the expected US-DPRK Peace Treaty. The book will navigate scholars, practitioners, and students towards terminating the 1953 Armistice, establishing nuclear peace as well as a rapprochement between the two countries. In practice, it will be a useful guideline for the conflicting parties in the various parts of the globe to adopt peace treaties in the twenty-first century.

A permanent peace regime on the Korean peninsula has yet to be achieved even though the Korean War came to a halt more than half a century ago. Without a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War, the two Korean states are technically still at war. The current situation on the Korean peninsula is extremely tense and precarious, and tensions and distrust between the two Koreas and between the U.S. and North Korea escalated in the wake of North Korea's second underground nuclear weapons testing in 2009. The editors of this volume conceptually present a two-track (inter-Korean and international) approach to Korean peninsula peace-regime building. They argue that an inter-Korean and international approach should be pursued simultaneously for the construction of a permanent peace regime on the Korean peninsula. The contributing authors are established specialists and experts on Korean foreign relations and Northeast Asian international relations. As natives of the U.S., Korea, China, and Japan, they provide objective, scholarly and diverse perspectives on the Korean peace regime building.

This “excellent study of foreign policy-making” explores the changing nature of US-Korea relations since 1948 (David Hundt, Political Studies Review). In A Troubled Peace, Professor Chae-Jin Lee examines the evolution of U.S. policy toward South and North Korea beginning in the mid-twentieth century, when rival regimes were installed on the Korean peninsula. He presents an enlightening analysis of the goals the United States has sought for Korea, how these goals have been articulated, and the methods used to implement them. Drawing on declassified diplomatic documents; primary materials in English, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese; and extensive interviews with American and Korean officials, Lee sheds light on critical factors that have affected U.S. policy: the functions of U.S. security policy in Korea, the role of the United States in South Korean democratization, President Clinton’s policy of constructive engagement toward North Korea, President Bush’s hegemonic policy toward North Korea, and the hexagonal linkages among the United States, China, Japan, Russia, and the two Koreas. Discussing the concepts of containment, deterrence, engagement, preemption, and appeasement, Lee’s balanced approach reveals the frustrations of all players in their attempts to arrive at a modicum of coexistence. His objective, comprehensive, and definitive study reveals a dynamic—and incredibly complex—series of relationships underpinning a troubled and tenuous peace.