North Korean Perceptions of Self and Others: Implications for Policy Choices

T he Korean peninsula is known as the most heavily armed area in the world in terms of both manpower and weaponry. One need only travel to the DMZ to see the massive forces confronting one another. What is not as obvious to the casual observer is the fact that the security of this region is most unpredictable and uncertain due to the pervasive mistrust that exists between the two systems. This remains true despite the inter-Korea summit meeting in June 2000 that led to a series of reconciliatory gestures from both sides, such as uniting separated families, exchanging performing artists, and entering the Sydney Olympic stadium under the same flag. North Korea is still vilified as the singular actor that is irrational, unpredictable, and lacking civility. Such criticisms are made of North Korea with little knowledge about the thought processes, policy motivations, and behavioural traits of this alienated system. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on the policy goals, strategies, and tactics that North Korea has employed in the post-cold war years. In so doing, it is hoped that we can empathize with North Korean decision-makers to enable us to explain better Pyongyang's policy behaviour. The perspective employed in this essay may be called the phenomenological approach in the sense that North Korean perceptions constitute the reality and that these perceptions must be articulated from the standpoint of the perceiver.