Conflict as imbalance: political healing of and through emotions in Korea

Abstract

What is the role of emotions in conflict resolution, and how can a reconceptualisation of emotions in international relations beyond the discipline be used to understand North Korea’s state conduct and conflict on the Korean peninsula? Drawing on the ontology and epistemology of East Asian medicine, this research explores the role of emotions in conflict resolution by using insights from Wuxing, the medical theory of the five elements/phases, its modus operandi of healing emotional imbalance with counter-emotions, and the principles of harmony and proportionality. I propose the following ‘treatment’: uncovering counterproductive roles and relations of American, South Korean and North Korean actors, given the attention to pathogenic factors in East Asian medicine; reconceptualising emotions in non-binary terms and accounting for suppressed and disproportionally expressed emotions and their effect on relations; strengthening the North Korean corpus to increase resilience; and countering emotional imbalance with counter-emotions. East Asian medicine addresses a system of disharmony, relocates misplaced radicals, and re-adjusts roles, powers and responsibilities. Given philosophical and conceptual differences between mainstream/scientific and endogenous academic approaches, the ontology and epistemology of East Asian medicine complement and go beyond existing understandings about the role of emotions in international relations and conflict resolution.