Causes and Case Analyses of the Homegrown Terrorism in Korea

Abstract

Purpose: Homegrown terrorism is an act of using violence to achieve a certain purpose or facilitate caution or publicize one s own claim with one s own power, which surfaces in the form of terrorism that causes casualties in connection with socio-political complaints or grievances between nations which are broader than domestic terrorism. The purpose of this study is to block the occurrence of domestic homegrown terrorism in advance by analyzing the causes of domestic homegrown terrorism and actual case analyses. Method: The concepts of terrorism and homegrown terrorism are defined, and the analyses are performed in regards to the increase of illegal immigrant workers, increase of the students of foreign nationality attending school in Korea, increase of the Muslims residing in Korea, the causes of domestic terrorism including cyber terror threats of North Korea, as well as the recent cases of following international terrorist organization of IS and the case of financial aid for international terrorist organizations among other cases analyzed including the domestic homegrown terrorism. Results: No nation or individual is safe from against terrorism. Even in the Korean society, various types of discrimination and prejudice have become the factors of conflict due to an increase in the number of illegal aliens, students of foreign nationality attending school in Korea, and the Muslims residing in Korea. This could provide a potential cause for the homegrown terrorism in Korea. Furthermore, it has been identified that there have been recent cases of homegrown terrorism in Korea. Conclusion: As evident in the cases of homegrown terrorism in Korea, Korea is no longer a safe zone from against terrorism. The best way to prevent terrorism is to eliminate the causes and environment of terrorism. Towards this end, it is even more necessary to share information based on international cooperation and build a cooperative system with relevant institutions.