서강대학교

초록/요약

South Korea and North Korea have remained in a virtually unresolvable conflict for over 70 years, despite there now being almost no direct military confrontation on the Korean Peninsula. In recent years, the Mt Kumgang tourist project was developed as a way to help the states resolve their differences. This thesis examines inter-Korean relations through the perspective of a conflict-sensitive approach to development regarding the Mt Kumgang tourist project. Development and humanitarian projects between North and South Korea carried undeniable political weight from the beginning due to the unique conflict between the two states. Therefore, the conflict-sensitive approach to development, linking peace-building and development, fits the context of inter-Korean relations. This research poses two main questions. The first question is, how can the conflict-sensitive approach be applied in the context of cooperation between South and North Korea? To explore this question, inter-Korean conflict was analyzed through the ‘Do Not Harm’ framework which is based on a conflict-sensitive approach. The analysis helps to identify what conflict and peace capacities exist between the South and North. The second question is how the Mt. Kumgang tourism project has affected conflict and peace capacities. Despite a variety of negative attitudes towards the project based on its economic failure, the perspective of a conflict-sensitive approach demonstrates that the Mt. Kumgang tourism project contributed to the improvement of peace capacities and reduced, or at least minimized conflict capacities. Although many studies focused on conflict or cooperation between South and North Korea, few papers focus on how to build inter-Korean cooperation that will help alleviate the conflict. This paper illustrates how a conflict-sensitive approach can be applied in the context of inter-Korean relations and what kind of development projects can contribute to peace on the Korean Peninsula.