A Creative Formula for Building the Korean Peninsula Peace Regime.

A Korean peninsula peace regime has not been established yet over a half century by replacing the Korean armistice agreement with a peace treaty. The two approaches to a Korean peninsula peace regime building are required: inter-Korean and international approaches. The two Koreas at the inter-Korean and international levels should play key roles in building inter-Korean confidence-building measures by reducing tension through inter-Korean reconciliation and economic cooperation and in a Korean peace forum involving the U.S., China and two Koreas under the Sept.19/Feb.13 joint agreements by concluding a Korean peninsula peace treaty to replace the armistice agreement. A peace regime can be institutionalized by implementing the inter-Korean basic agreement (1992) through inter-Korean cooperation and by concluding a Korean peninsula peace treaty at the forthcoming four-party Korean peace forum.The author makes three major arguments. First, the two Koreas and the four powers need to agree on a comprehensive roadmap for the Korean peninsula peace regime building. The inter-Korean and international approaches to peace regime building should be considered in parallel. Second, the North Korean nuclear issue should be first resolved peacefully through the six-party talks. Third, the two Koreas need to work together to find an alternative to their respective proposals. The author proposes a Korean peninsula peace treaty signed by the ROK, the DPRK, the U. S. and China as an alternative. Unless the two Koreas demonstrate their desire to cooperate through sincere deeds by sincerely implementing inter-Korean agreements and are willing to make concessions by working together for establishing a peace regime in Korea, there is little chance of achieving this goal. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]