Who is Sunshine Policy?
The Sunshine Policy (Korean: 햇볕정책; RR: Haetbyeot Jeongchaek) is one of the approaches for South Korea's foreign policy towards North Korea. Its official title is The Reconciliation and Cooperation Policy Towards the North (Korean: 대북화해협력정책; RR: Daebook Hwahae Hyeob-ryeok Jeongchaek), and it is also known as The Operational Policy Towards the North (Korean: 대북운영정책; RR: Daebook Oonyeong Jeongchaek) and The Embracing Policy (Korean: 포용정책; RR: Poyong Jeongchaek). The policy emerged largely in the context of the growing economic gap between the two Koreas: the South was strengthening itself and experiencing economic prosperity that had begun under President Park Chung Hee in the 1970s while the North was experiencing severe economic decline and faced bankruptcy. While the government spent an excessive portion of its budget on its military and nuclear program, the people experienced widespread starvation. Sunshine Policy was aimed at mitigating thi...
