Revisiting the Functionalist Approach to Korean Unification: The Role of International Organizations and NGOs

Abstract

It is often said that the functionalist approach has failed in explaining inter-Korean relations and the road to Korean unification. So, it is regarded by many scholars and policymakers as an invalid theory in proposing any good foreign or North Korea policy. This is mostly because the Sunshine Policy, or South Korea’s engagement policy toward North Korea under the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun governments, had been based on the functionalist approach to regional integration. However, this paper argues that we can still find the validity of the functionalist approach on the Korean peninsula by paying attention to the roles of international organizations (IOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Most scholars and governmental officials in Korea have been so far interested in spillover effects between the economy and politics when they deal with functionalist approaches. However, they have not paid much attention to other significant logical paths that the theory has produced. In particular, the functionalist approach emphasizes the role of non-state actors and the institutionalization of cooperation as well as spillover effects, but their roles have tended to be ignored in many researches on Korean unification. It is mostly because the Korean peninsula is surrounded by the four great powers, i.e., U.S., China, Japan and Russia. This kind of state-centric approach toward North Korea policy and Korean unification has dominated both academic and policy debates. In this vein, this paper highlights the importance of the role of non-state actors such as IOs and NGOs, thereby bringing the functionalist approach back to the road toward the Korean unification.