Abstract

This chapter examines the evolutions of South Korea’s unification discourse from the authoritarian regimes of Rhee Syngman, Park Chung-hee, and Chun Doo-hwan to the democratic administrations of Roh Tae-woo, Kim Young-sam, and Kim Dae-jung. Drawing on discursive institutionalism, it analyses how cognitive, normative, coordinative, and communicative dimensions of discourse shaped the state’s approach to North Korea and the institutionalisation of unification policy. Under authoritarian leaders, unification discourse was dominated by anti-communist narratives that subordinated engagement to national security imperatives and legitimised authoritarian control. The democratic transition of the late 1980s and 1990s introduced a gradual shift away from such paradigms though such transitions were, at times, constrained by residual Cold War ideologies. Kim Dae-jung’s presidency marked a transformation of inter-Korean relations as it institutionalised an engagement-oriented framework through the Sunshine Policy, which has stood as the archetype for subsequent administrations’ engagement policies. This chapter argues that this discursive evolution reflects South Korea’s political transformation from authoritarian securitisation to democratic institutionalisation, highlighting the historic tension between security and reconciliation in the state’s pursuit of unification.