Korean Unification

CSIS undertook a groundbreaking initiative on Korean unification in cooperation with the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California (USC) from 2010-2014.

Starting in 2010 through 2014, CSIS undertook a groundbreaking initiative on Korean unification in cooperation with the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California (USC). The future integration of the peninsula poses one of the greatest challenges as well as opportunities for the United States, Korea, and Asia.

Through generous support from the Korea Foundation, CSIS and USC examined the longer-term problems of Korean peninsula integration. Although a great deal of study has been devoted to contingency and near-term crisis planning for a potential collapse, this project focused on the yet unstudied longer-term economic, political, and human security issues.

Traditionally viewed in military terms, the collapse of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the subsequent unification of the Korean peninsula will raise issues of environmental degradation, public health and social dislocation, as well as legal and judicial issues. Such issues will affect not only South Korea but also surrounding countries such as China, Russia, Japan, and the United States. This research project was designed to bring together a wide variety of experts from different disciplines to explore the various longer-term transitional issues that will arise from unification of the Korean peninsula creating a network linking with functional experts and Korea scholars to develop path-breaking analysis of problems and solutions to integration of the Korean peninsula.

CSIS and USC took a multifaceted approach to developing avenues for political and technical solutions to these issues at the national, regional, and international levels. The principal investigators for the Korea Project were Dr. Victor Cha, senior advisor and holder of the Korea Chair at CSIS, and Dr. David Kang, director of Korean Studies Institute at USC.

The Korea Project 2013: Planning for the Long Term

An international conference supported by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the University of Southern California, and the Korea Foundation, took place on January 22, 2013 in Seoul, South Korea at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. The project is designed to bring together a wide variety of experts from different disciplines to explore the various longer-term transitional issues that will arise from a unification of the Korean peninsula. In the third conference experts from China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States. The panels discussed regional reactions firstly to the prospects of Korean unification and secondly to the complexities associated with longer-term transitional issues as found in "Challenges for Korean Unification Planning: Justice, Markets, Health, Refugees, and Civil-Military Transitions."

2013 Working Papers

China
China’s Position on the Unification of the Korean Peninsula--With a Critique on the USC-CSIS Report on Challenges for Korean Unification Planning
By MG. Pan Zhenqiang (Senior Adviser, China Reform Forum)

Japan
A Japanese Perspective to “Challenges for Korean Unification Planning
By Yoshihide Soeya (Keio University)

Russia
Russia’s Perspective on the Korean Unification Prospects and Posts Unification Transformation
By Alexander Vorontsov, Ph.D. (Head, Department for Korea and Mongolia, Institute for Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences)

South Korea
South Korea’s Possible Responses to Unification
By Jaewoo Choo (Kyung Hee University)

The Korea Project – Phase III: Reactions from South Korea
By Yoon Young-kwan (Seoul National University)

The Korea Project 2011: Planning for the Long Term

The Korea Project 2011: Planning for the Long Term was the 2nd Annual Conference of the CSIS-USC Korea Project. The Phase Two conference was held at the University of Southern California's Korean Studies Institute on August 5 and 6, 2011, and featured path-breaking thought and discussion on contingency planning for the eventual unification of the Korean Peninsula. The 2011 capstone publication from the conference is " A Challenges for Korean Unification Planning: Justice, Markets, Health, Refugees, and Civil-Military Transitions, " by the Korea Project's principal investigators, Dr. Victor D. Cha of CSIS and Dr. David C. Kang of USC. The 2011 conference gathered regional and functional experts and featured discussions on a wide variety of work from different disciplines and different regional expertise applied to the problems that may arise on a post-unification Korean peninsula. Topics such as transitional justice, economics, health, migration, and institutions were covered, as were comparable cases ranging from Germany to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Iraq.

2011 Publication Spotlight

Challenges for Korean Unification Planning: Justice, Markets, Health, Refugees, and Civil-Military Transitions chronicles the progress of the CSIS–University of Southern California joint project. The project’s primary purpose is to frame discussion on the long-term tasks involved in the eventual unification of the Korean Peninsula. It does so by pairing Korea scholars with various functional experts in areas such as justice, markets, health, refugees, and civil-military transitions to promote innovative thinking on a range of topics related to unification. This report outlines the basic concept of the project and highlights the topics of discussion and important conclusions reached at the summation of the second conference.

2011 Working Papers

Scenarios for Unification
By Scott Snyder, Director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy and Senior Associate of Washington programs, The Asia Foundation

Discussants
David C. Kang, Professor in the School of International Relations and the Marshall School of Business and Director of the Korean Studies Institute, University of Southern California
Victor Cha, Senior Advisor and Korea Chair, CSIS

Institutions
The Collapse of the East German and Russian Militaries as a Model for the Koreas: the Case of the Military
By Dale Herspring, University Distinguished Professor, Political Science Department, Kansas State University

The Role of NGOs in the Korean Unification Process
By John DeLury, Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies, Graduate School of International Studies, Yonsei University

Discussants
John S. Park, Senior Program Officer, U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP)
Donald N. Clark, Director of International Studies department and History Department Professor, Trinity College

Governance
Lessons from Transitional Justice
By Leslie Vinjamuri, Co-chair, Center for the International Politics of Conflict, Rights and Justice and Convenor of General Diplomatic Studies and Practice, Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy

Health infrastructure challenges in the DPRK
By Sharon Perry, Senior Research Scientist and Epidemiologist, Division of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Stanford University

Discussants
Ilkwon Kim, Visiting Fellow, Office of the Korea Chair, CSIS
Donald N. Clark, Director of International Studies department and History Department Professor, Trinity College

The Economy
Lessons from the Transition Experience in Former Socialist Countries
By Byung-Yeon Kim, Professor, Department of Economics, Seoul National University.

Economic Reform in Closed Political Systems - The Case of Vietnam and China
By Regina Abrami, Senior Fellow and Faculty Chair of the Immersion Experience Program (IXP), Harvard Business School

Discussants
John S. Park, Senior Program Officer, U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP)
Balbina Hwang, Visiting Professor, National Defense University (NDU) and Georgetown University

People
Migration and refugees – Lessons Learned, Significant Trends from Other Cases and their Relevance to Korea
By Sandra Fahy, Sejong Society postdoctoral fellow, USC Korean Studies Institute

Developing a new Food Security system for the Korean Peninsula during an integration of the two systems
By Andrew Natsios, Distinguished Professor, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.

Discussants
Dorothy Stuehmke, former Senior Advisor to the U.S.-DPRK food aid program (2008-2009)
Suk-Young Kim, Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Lessons from U.S. Post-Conflict Planning
Potential Lessons from the Iraq Experience for North Korea
By Sean Kane, Program Officer Iraq Programs, U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP)

Dispatching a Dictator – The Case of Slobodan Milosevic
By Christopher R. Hill, Dean, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, Denver University

Discussants
Sue Terry, former deputy national intelligence officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council
Scott Snyder, Director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy and Senior Associate of Washington programs, The Asia Foundation

The Korea Project 2010: Planning for the Long Term

The 1st Annual Conference of the CSIS-USC Korea Project entitled "The Korea Project: Planning for the Long Term." The conference was held at the University of Southern California's Korean Studies Institute on August 21 and 22, 2010, and featured path-breaking thought and discussion on contingency planning for the eventual unification of the Korean Peninsula. The 2010 working papers feature the work of a wide variety of scholars from different disciplines and with different regional expertise, all applied to the problems that may arise on a post-unification Korean Peninsula. Topics such as civil conflict, energy, health, migration, and environment are covered, as are comparable cases ranging from Germany to Romania to Iraq. As they are working papers, they may not be cited or referenced in any way.

2010 Working Papers

한반도 통일을 향한 접근
Environmental Issues of a Unified Korea
Transitional Justice in North Korea: Accountability for Human Rights Atrocities
Health Reconstruction in North Korea
North Korea: Migration Patterns and Prospects
The Challenges of a Post-Reunification Korea: Lessons from Reconciled Civil Conflicts
SOE Reform in China: Lessons for North Korea
DPRK 'Collapse' Pathways: Implications for the Energy Sector and for Strategies of Redevelopment/Support
Iraq: Lessons Learned in the Context of Regime Change in North Korea