The Sunshine Policy

Sunshine Policy argued that encouraging North Korea to come out of isolation and end confrontation was better than trying to force it to change. This came to define a generation in South Korean politics, allowing millions to dare to believe that half a century of war could be brought to an end.

Now this new book by Chung-in Moon, a Yonsei University professor and former South Korean government adviser, presents a definitive analysis of how Kim developed and implemented his revolutionary policy, the challenges it faced and the mistake that Lee Myung-bak's government has made in abandoning it.

Moon was a first-hand witness to the events of the Kim years, assisting in drafting the Sunshine Policy, attending the historic inter- Korean Summits in 2000 and 2007 that were fruits of its labors, and chronicling the public, political and global support for the policy. He argues forcefully that critics of the policy in recent years are wrong to dismiss it as a failed appeasement experiment that was too generous to North Korea. Instead, he sees it as a victim of circumstance, hampered especially by the hard line policies of US President George W. Bush and anxieties over global terrorism.
Even so, he explains, it did more to normalize North Korea in the world's eyes than any attempt before or since. With tensions and uncertainty between the Koreas at a new high in the first months of Kim Jong Un's regime, the policy and its principles are more sorely needed than ever.