Sunshine Policy

The Sunshine Policy (햇볕정책) is a type of South Korean policy toward North Korea: the official name is Engagement Policy (대북화해협력정책). The main aim is to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula by pursuing cooperation between South and North Korea on the basis of nationalism and pacifism. Mainstream liberals in South Korea support this policy.

Supporters of the Sunshine Policy are skeptical of excessive sanctions and 'maximum pressure' on North Korea, and believe that dialogue, compromise, trust and economic aid can help resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

This policy is mainly related to liberal nationalism and left-wing nationalism in South Korea. But conservatives in South Korea hate this policy very much.

In 2000, Kim Dae-jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his successful implementation of the Sunshine Policy.

The Sunshine Policy lasted from 1998 to 2007 when the liberal South Korean government was in office. However, this policy was suspended since 2008 when the conservative government took office. But with the inauguration of the liberal government in 2017, the Sunshine Policy is being pursued again.

The policy originates from the of Willy Brandt, a former West German chancellor.

Non-mainstream U.S. politicians such as Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders support the policy in part, but not completely. Because even though they agree to talk and compromise during the Sunshine Policy, they don't agree to economic aid to North Korea. This is because they think that there should be talks with North Korea, but at the same time, there should be maximum pressure. (However, some of America's alt-right actively support this policy. Because it's a policy based on nationalism. Of course, it would not be possible for American alt-rights to like the mainstream liberals in South Korea. Support for feminism is because mainstream liberals in South Korea!)

South Korea's conservative camp is more extreme on many issues than the U.S. Republican Party. Of course, there is no lack of non-mainstream liberals in the South who oppose the policy. But the problem is that they are the Bareunmirae Party, which has contacts with Western alt-lite. As such, South Korean politics is deformed, so many young people are disgusted with politics.