Legal Issues of Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Under the Armistice System

This unique work examines the highly topical national and international legal issues of economic cooperation between North and South Korea under the current divided situation. In recent years, the relationship between the two Koreas has been generating more concern than in earlier times. This new interest has been followed by two epoch-making developments over the past decade: the conclusion of the Basic Agreement of 1991 and the Declaration of the North-South Summit of 2000. These events have caused remarkable changes in political, as well as economic, relations between the north and the south. This book reviews the current legal regime and the setting up of a positive legal framework for inter-Korean economic cooperation, beginning to be regulated by international law. This research provides two ultimate outcomes. One is to resolve the legal problems for transnational economic cooperation relating to North and South Korea; the other is to develop a juridical model of south-north cooperation as a new world economic framework for the 21st century. Three interrelated areas are involved in this work. The first part describes the external environmental factors regarding inter-Korean economic cooperation from an international legal perspective. The second part deals with the legal framework of inter-Korean economic cooperation, examining concrete issues arising from practical economic exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas. The last part discusses the legal foundations for inter-Korean economic integration beyond economic cooperation. This book clarifies the significance of the legal environment as an indispensable servant for the parts of a divided country to recover their relationship, offering both a normative and practical framework.