Security issues on the Korean Peninsula : the impetus for peaceful coexistence in the 1990s

Abstract

This dissertation sets out to examine the prospects for security and peaceful coexistence on the Korean penisula. It must be noted that the research for the main points of this dissertation was largely completed in 1989-1990, and was based largely on materials available at that time. Since then, the world's political picture has changed substantially. The fall of Communism in the Soviet Union and the great changes in Eastern Europe have therefore meant that some of the assumptions, particularly those concerning North Korea and its external support, are no longer as valid as they were when the research for this dissertation was undertaken. In spite of this, the internal engine of North Korean policy on the Korean peninsula remains almost unchanged and may remain that way until the end of Kim II Sung's regime.