Inter-Korean Relations: A North Korean Perspective

Abstract

Despite the continued hostility and competition for legitimacy between the two Koreas, inter-Korean relations have slowly but steadily increased and diversified in recent years. From a North Korean perspective, this expanding interaction with Seoul embodies a fundamental contradiction in Pyongyang’s worldview: the DPRK’s long-standing “theological” belief in the superiority of the North Korean system and ultimate unification on North Korean terms on the one hand, and on the other a practical understanding that not only is the DPRK extremely disadvantaged economically—and in some ways even militarily —vis-à-vis the South, but that sustained and expanding contacts could pose a grave danger to the stability and viability of the North Korean political system. Yet Pyongyang seems willing to take that risk in order to rescue what remains of its economy and prevent even further decline and deterioration. Despite the inevitable talk of unification, inter-Korean relations are less important for Pyongyang as an end in themselves than as a means for economic revitalization, which is in turn an important part of Kim Jong Il’s own legitimation. As long as inter-Korean relations offer these benefits without appearing to threaten the security and stability of the DPRK regime, Pyongyang will likely continue dealing with Seoul in a contained and limited fashion.