한국인의 통일인식 2008~2015: 세대별 격차와 세대내 분화

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to examine generation gap in the perception on the unification. Following Mannheim's argument, I attempted to demarcate generation according to critical domestic and inter-Korean experiences in the adolescents period. As a result, the author classified generations as follows: system competition generation, democratic-nationalistic unification generation, post-Cold war unification generation, neoliberal unification generation. In the analysis, I found that there are gaps in the unification perception among the generations. And President Park Gunhae's unification policy, which was declared in the 2013, has had differential effects to each generation. And the subsequent analysis showed that the unification perception is influenced not only generational differences but also unification policy and inter-Korean relations. So, the author proposed, to enhance national unification perception, it is necessary that government unification policy should be tailored according to each generation and inter-Korean relations are to be improved. But to consider each generation as a unitary group leads over-simplification of the real world. Intra-generation differentiation should be examined. The analyses revealed that there are intra-generation differentiation according to the type of unification consciousness. In reality, generation gap and intra-generational differentiation are mixed in the Korean unification perception. The generation gap remains apparently in the abstract level of unification perception and the intra-generation differentiation can be found clearly in the concrete level.