“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.

This book offers a distinctive perspective on peace processes by comparatively analysing two cases which have rarely been studied in tandem, Ireland and Korea. The volume examines and compares Ireland and Korea as two peace/conflict areas. Despite their differences, both places are marked by a number of overlaid states of division: a political border in a geographical unit (an island and a peninsula); an antagonistic relationship within the population of those territories; an international relationship recovering from past asymmetry and colonialism; and divisions within the main groupings over how to address these relationships. Written by academics and practitioners from Europe and East Asia, and guided by the concepts of peacebuilding and reconciliation, the chapters assess peace efforts at all levels, from the elite to grassroot organisations. Topics discussed include: historical parallels; modern debates over the legacy of the past; contemporary constitutional and security issues; civil society peacebuilding in relation to faith, sport, and women’s activism; and the role of economic assistance. The book brings Ireland and Korea into a rich dialogue which highlights the successes and shortcomings of both peace processes This book will be of interest to students of Peace and Conflict Studies, Irish Politics, Korean Politics, and International Relations.

In the last fifteen years, conflict resolution, a collaborative, problem-solving approach to social conflicts, was introduced to new democracies in an attempt to develop civil society's capacity for conflict management (Mayer, 2000). Conflict resolution provides people with an opportunity to advocate effectively for their own interests in a non-violent, constructive manner through systematic educational efforts, skills trainings, dialogue initiatives, and mediation practices (Mayer, 2000). It empowers people to address, manage, and transform difficulties and antagonism into a source of positive social change and, thus, change people's negative psychological responses to conflicts (Bush & Folger, 1994). In this view, conflict resolution in new democracies' civil society provides citizens as well NGO practitioners with the skills and opportunities to practice how to express and resolve differences in a safe and constructive environment (Shonholtz, 1997). In an effort to provide additional information about civil society's conflict resolution practices and their affect in new democracies, this dissertation examines the existing efforts of South Korean civil society organisations to promote conflict resolution methodologies. Specifically, three organisations are examined to understand better South Korean civil society's response to PCR issues. Furthermore, by closely examining these three civil society organisations, this dissertation aims to explore what affect increased awareness and engagement in conflict resolution methodologies have on the democratic quality of civil society.

What role did civil society play in Korea's recent democratization? How does the Korean case compare with cases from other regions of the world? What is the current status of Korean democratic consolidation? What are the prospects for Korean democracy?In December 1997, for the first time in the history of South Korea (hereafter Korea), an opposition candidate was elected to the presidency. Korea became the first new democracy in Asia where a horizontal transfer of power occurred through the electoral process. Sunhyuk Kim's study of democratization in Korea argues that the momentum for political change in Korea has consistently emanated from oppositional civil society rather than from the state. He develops a civil society paradigm and utilizes Korea's three authoritarian breakdowns (only two of which resulted in democratic transitions) to illustrate the past and present influences of Korean civil society groups on authoritarian breakdowns, democratic transitions, and post-transition democratic consolidations. One of the first systematic attempts to apply a civil society framework to a democratizing country in East Asia, The Politics of Democratization in Korea will be of use to political scientists and advanced undergraduate and graduate students working in comparative politics, political theory, East Asian politics, and the politics of democratization.

"This volume represents the first English-language collection by the renowned Korean cultural and political critic Paik Nak-chung. Paik's omnipresent theme is the 'division system' on the Korean peninsula, the peculiar logic by which one nation remains divided into two states. These deeply humanistic essays foreground the needs of ordinary citizens and call for globally relevant solutions to Korea's divided reality."--Publisher's website.

While most analyses of Korean politics have looked to elites to explain political change, this new and revised edition of Korean Society examines the role of ordinary people in this dramatic transformation. Taking the innovative theme of 'civil society' - voluntary organizations outside the role of the state which have participated in the process of political and social democratization - the essays collected here examine Korea as one of the most dramatic cases in the world of ordinary citizens participating in the transformation of politics. Key topics discussed include: comparisons of Korean democratization to the experiences of post-authoritarian regimes elsewhere in the world comparisons of the theory of civil society as developed in Western Europe and America the legacy of Korea's Confucian past for contemporary politics and society close examinations of various civil society movements South Korea and North Korea. Conceptually innovative, up-to-date and timely, the new edition of this book will be an invaluable resource for students of contemporary Korea, Asian politics and the global struggle for democracy.

This title was first published in 2003. After the inter-Korean Summit in 2000, the Korean peace process gained a new momentum and the two Koreas increased mutual contacts and exchanges. However, in 2001 the peace process stalled and was further hindered by Bush's hard-line policy towards Pyongyang and North Korea's inflexible attitudes towards Seoul. Interest in the Korean peninsula by the US, Russia, Japan and China, for geo-strategic and geo-economic reasons means that peace and unification will inevitably become an international problem. Against this backdrop, this original volume deals with the problems and prospects of the inter-Korean peace process and the interests, attitudes and policies of these major powers.