Abstract

LAMBERT, Joël. Confidence and the Sunshine Policy in Korea. CONfines relacion. internaci. ciencia política [online]. 2008, vol.4, n.8, pp.63-78. ISSN 1870-3569.

Confidence, as a global explanatory concept, has not been extensively studied in International Relations. We wish to reverse this tendency through its conceptualization and its application to a case study, namely the implementation of the Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy in South Korea in its efforts to establish positive relations with North Korea. We propose that the between actors consists of the first actor's belief that a second actor will act in such a way that the objectives of the first actor will be reached in a given situation. With this definition, it is possible to investigate the role of confidence before the implementation of the Sunshine Policy in its core ideas and finally in its results. The analysis demonstrates that the role of confidence is essential in all the phases of the Sunshine Policy. This gives a hint of its relevance in the study of international relations.

Keywords : confidence; trust; Sunshine Policy; Korea; Kim Dae-jung; Korean Unification; Inter-Korean relations.

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