earticle

영어

In the process of the chance of the relationship between two Koreas, South Korean government needs the public supports, leading to the frequent surveys on the public idea about the reunification. These surveys are carried out by several political parties, the press, social organizations in order to facilitate their own policy making as well as to obtain the public approval. Since the surveys on the public idea about the reunification has been carried out constantly after the inter-Korean summit meeting, it has now become possible to understand the
flow of public opinion not from a temporary point of view, but a long-term point of view. This study examines the previous public surveys according to their themes, aiming to understand the shift of public opinion after 1995, the year of the food assistance toward the North.
Seen from the flow of the public opinion, South Korean people will be likely to continue the support the engagement policy with the North. However, the South Korean are discontent with the concrete ways of applying the policy, wanting the government to respond in a more flexible way according to the attitude of the North. Therefore, in order for the South government to obtain
a dynamic support from its people, more ‘practical results’ are to be induced.
The South Korean government should recognize the point that a majority of its people support the ‘flexible engagement policy’ in promoting the policy toward the North in the future. Consequently, it is more desirable for the South Korean government to promote the policy toward the North in the way to obtain the concrete ‘certain result’ of its engagement policy. This will lessen the internal conflicts in South Korean society, and enable a more sustainable inter-Korean economic cooperation in the long run.