한국사회의 갈등과 통합*

Abstract

Conflict is a universal phenomenon that exists in all societies regardless of the times or places. However, excessive conflict beyond the critical point has been recognized as a serious threat to a society, and measures of social integration have been devised in order to resolve the social conflict. Korean society, which has experienced numerous conflicts due to sharp ideological confrontation under the Cold War, side effects of compressed industrialization, partisan governance, and closed cultural traditions, has recently shifted to a worrisome state referred to as a "conflict republic" due to rising social uncertainties and class disparity. This paper comprehensively analyzes this current condition in terms of social anxiety as a background factor, social inequality as a causal factor and social conflict as a consequential factor, and discusses social integration measures to resolve the conflict from various viewpoints. Until now, a punitive approach based on retribution justice, a welfare approach based on distributional justice, and an inclusive approach based on recognition justice have been widely known as effective solutions to social conflict. From this study, however, it is turned out that the recent social conflict in Korea, worsening to an extreme form like a state of a war, is able to enter a path of harmonious integration only when a reconciliation approach resting on restorative justice is combined.