Strengthening Understanding through Dialogue: A Peacebuilding Approach to the Korean Peninsula Conflict

Strengthening Understanding through Dialogue is a conflict analysis that takes a peacebuilding approach to the Korean Peninsula conflict. The analysis focuses on the four governments that are party to the conflict – the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, the United States, and the People’s Republic of China – and outlines the role of each party in the key driving factors of the conflict. More importantly, the analysis emphasises that despite the roles these governments occupy in this conflict, they also retain the power to influence the course of the conflict, especially the US and DPRK.

The analysis is based on interviews conducted in 2016 with international non-government organisations and academics who have directly engaged with DPRK personnel. Published in May 2017, at the beginning of the Moon Jae-In Administration in the ROK and the Trump Administration in the US. its aim is to promote the consideration of a wider range of options available to the US, the ROK, and other international actors, who have the capacity to accompany a path to positive working relationships for the conflicting parties.

Strengthening Understanding through Dialogue demonstrates that it is only through deepening the understanding of each others’ perspectives and interests through engagement that the conflict parties can begin building the relationships required to transform the tensions in the Korean Peninsula conflict into sustainable diplomatic relations, and identifies several leverage points as possible steps towards this end.