김정은 시대 북한 스포츠외교의 활용 -사회주의 보편성과 북한의 특수성을 중심으로-

Abstract

In the past, major socialist countries have strengthened socialist solidarity through sports diplomacy, strengthening ties between neighboring countries, strengthening dominance through aid to developing countries, disseminating the socialist system, and enhancing sports reputation through international sports events such as the Olympics. In the course of sports diplomacy, the main means of diplomatic approval or rejection, dissemination of political ideology, conflicts between systems, enhancement of national status, and understanding and peace among nations have been promoted. However, in the Kim Il-sung era of North Korea, sports diplomacy has been conducted to strengthen solidarity between socialists , strengthen friendsh ips between neighboring countries, and enhance sports reputation in the process of national reconstruction after the Korean War. For this purpose, the reform and opening sports diplomacy policy of mosquito netting was carried out. After Kim Jong-il’s death, Kim Jong-un came into power, and North Korea showed changes by promoting the globalization of sports diplomacy. First, the National Sports Guidance Committee was established to raise the level of policy implementation. Second, sports diplomacy was chosen for communication rather than isolation. In the course of North Korea’s nuclear development and force testing, it has steadily participated in international sports competitions to obtain diplomatic approval from the international community, to spread the North Korean national brand to the international community, and to communicate with conflicting countries and resolve conflicts. Third, it is to improve the sports environment to enhance the national prestige. In order to conduct sports diplomacy on the world stage and to raise the national prestige, it was fundamentally necessary to have excellent athletes. For this purpose, cutting-edge sports science and technology were introduced to the players. Lastly, for international sports standards compliance and globalization, international sports regulations were complied with and global trends were followed. The goals of sports diplomacy in the Kim Jong-un era are somewhat different from those of traditional socialist sports diplomacy. First, it is the aspect of strengthening dominance through support for developing countries. In the economic situation of North Korea, it was somewhat difficult to strengthen dominance while supporting developing countries, and the direction of sports diplomacy was changed to hybrid practical cooperation through sports, economy, and military rather than strengthening dominance. Second, rather than spreading the socialist system centering on socialist countries, he emphasized diplomatic activities as a ‘normal state’ of North Korea and Kim Jong-un’s ‘supreme leader in a normal state’ to the world. Third, pragmatism and cooperation were chosen rather than systemic competition. After the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, North Korea conducted active sports diplomacy, seeking regional sports exchange and cooperation such as inter-Korean sports exchange and cooperation, North Korea-China sports exchange and cooperation, and North Russia sports exchange and cooperation, and international sports exchange and cooperation such as hosting the 2032 inter-Korean joint Olympics. Although North Korea’s sports diplomacy under the Kim Jong-un era showed many changes compared to the past, politics was still at the highest level of the North Korean system, and there was also a limitation that sports diplomacy could not move forward without a high-level political agreement.