REPUBLIC OF KOREA'S EFFORTS TO RESOLVE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA'S NUCLEAR ISSUE AND REALIZE A PEACEFUL KOREAN PENINSULA (2017-2019)

Abstract

The Korean peninsula is one of the most complex security regions in the world. Tensions within the region are exacerbated by nuclear activity and its development by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is considered the biggest threat to the Republic of Korea. For more than two decades, the Republic of Korea government has made various efforts to achieve denuclearization and peace within the Korean Peninsula. However, no absolute results have yet been achieved but the ups and downs in the process of it. In May 2017, the Republic of Korea inaugurated a new president, Moon Jae-In, to replace the former president, Park Geun-Hye, amidst the high provocation of missile launches and nuclear tests being intensified by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In response to this, the Republic of Korea released Moon Jae-In's policy on the Korean Peninsula as the basis of its policy in the region that encompasses the vision of "Peaceful Coexistence and Co-Prosperity" and the new government's DPRK policy in the name of "Berlin Initiative". Here, President Moon emphasized that his government will seek to bring denuclearization and peace within the Korean Peninsula. Furthermore, by using a qualitative method of research and utilizing several theory and concepts including neorealism, national interest, threat perception, and cooperative security, this thesis is trying to understand and analyze the Republic of Korea’s efforts to resolve Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear issue and realize a peaceful Korean Peninsula under Moon Jae-In’s administration, especially looking at his half-term in office, from 2017-2019.