샌드연구소 뉴스레터

Newsletter by SAND

2024. 8. 16 Number 33 | publisher Kyong-hui Choi

South And North Development

www. sand.or.kr

Just as Sand means sand in English, the SAND Research Institute will fill the empty space in inter-Korean relations and North Korea research amid the social focus, and communicate with society with a confident attitude and innovative research results. The SAND Research Institute, comprised of researchers from North and South Korea, will play its role as the main material to build a new 'house of unification' and pave the 'path to unification', just as sand is used as a key material for semiconductors in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Special Feature on National Liberation Day of Korea

Shin Gak-soo

Former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade,

Former South Korean Ambassador to Japan

Reflecting on South Korea's Peace and Security on the 50th Anniversary of Yuk Young-soo's Death

This year commemorates half a century since Yuk Young-soo, the wife of President Park Chung-hee, was fatally shot by Zainichi Korean Moon Se-gwang during the National Liberation Day ceremony on August 15, 1974. This tragic event, which occurred when I was a college sophomore, remains a vivid

memory due to the significant impact it had. Despite its importance, it is a largely forgotten event, especially among those under 50.

Like many high-profile assassinations, Moon's act is...

Feature Article

Choi Kyong-hui

President of SAND Institute

Shifting Mindsets of North Korean Youth: From Collectivism to Self-Centeredness

August 28 marks Youth Day in North Korea, a day established in 1991 to boost the ideology and pride of young people during the decline of the socialist and communist bloc. On this occasion, let's delve into the evolving characteristics of North Korean youth amid the country's societal changes.

By 2024, the "market" has become crucial for sustaining North Korea's socialist system, giving rise to a "market political culture." Since the formal recognition of general markets in 2003, the intertwining of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and Jangmadang (markets) has reshaped social order...

Issue Brief

Lee Ki-tae

Director, Global Strategy Research Division
at the Korea Institute for National Unification

Kim Jong-un's 'Two Hostile States' Theory and Confusion Among Zainichi Koreans

In January 2024, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took a bold step by ordering a constitutional amendment during his Supreme People's Assembly speech, classifying South Korea as the "primary hostile nation." This marked a significant shift in inter-Korean relations, changing the narrative from "kinship"

to a "hostile state relationship." Historically, North Korea, under Kim Il-sung, pursued a policy aimed at reunifying with South Korea. However, the recent surge in popularity of South Korean culture among North Korean residents, posing a threat to internal stability, has prompted this policy shift.

NK Focus

Lee Seung-hyun

Research Fellow at SAND Institute
Ph.D. in Public Administration

North Korea's Policy Toward South Korea: Trends from July and August 2024

- Kim Jong-un's "Two Hostile States" and the DPRK

On December 30, 2023, at the fifth session of the Workers' Party of Korea Plenary Meeting, Kim Jong-un declared that inter-Korean relations were no longer fraternal but had become those of two hostile states. He stated that unification with South Korea was unattainable.

Kim emphasized that North-South ties had solidified as adversarial and likened the relationship to two warring states. He noted that South Korea’s policies of 'unification by absorption' and 'system unification' starkly contrasted with North Korea’s vision of a “two-state system” and...

Defector’s Podium

Nam Bada

Secretary General of People for Successful Corean Reunification (PSCORE)

Establishment of North Korean Defectors’ Day

On July 14, 2024, South Korea designated the day as "North Korean Defectors' Day." This special day was established following a directive from President Yoon Suk-yeol during a Cabinet meeting on January 16, aiming to protect and warmly welcome North Korean defectors as fellow citizens.

To implement this, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety issued a presidential decree on May 21, officially recognizing North Korean Defectors' Day as a national commemorative day. July 14 was chosen to commemorate the enactment of the Act on the Protection and Settlement Support...

Feature Article Series

Jeon Byung-kil

Senior Consultant of YESInnovation
former of Secretary General of UniKorea Foundation

Marketing In North Korea (6) - Imagine school supply brand

Regardless of time and place, Parents are all the same. They want to provide their children with good school supplies. Even in North Korea, where the economy is struggling, parents don't skimp on school supplies. Merchants also actively attract customers by offering discounts.

In the capital, Pyongyang, people buy school supplies in department stores, while in the provinces they buy them mainly at marketplaces, Jangmadong.

Despite its high educational aspirations, North Korea has...

kim Myong-sung's Inside North Korea