한국인의 유연한 현실주의: 대북ㆍ대미인식의 변화를 중심으로

Abstract

The Institute for Peace and Unification Studies (IPUS) of has conducted annual unification attitude survey since 2007. Using the IPUS data, this research aims to analyze Koreans” attitude toward international relations and neighboring countries. Koreans have very robust and realistic attitudes toward international affairs, which this study calls “flexible realism.” In relation to the U.S., China, Russia, Japan, and North Korea, the surrounding powers around Korean peninsular, Korean attitude for them is realistic, which is based on a notion that a state pursues national interest to survive in the anarchical international regime, and that conflict is a default mode of every international relation. Another trait of this realist attitude is that Korean do not reject the peaceful coexistence with its neighboring countries, which even includes North Korea. Thus, Korean realism is flexible, meaning that it is differentiated from rigid hatred or excessive distrust, which leaves a room for cooperation and coordination based on rational calculation of national interests. These two traits, realism and flexibility, mean that Koreans have very well adjusted and mature attitudes toward international relations.