Jeju Peace Institute

It has turned out that the “Sunshine Policy” toward the North can increase exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas to a certain extent but can never lead to significant changes in North Korea’s nuclear programs or military-first policy. The reason is that the sunshine policy may cause North Korea to feel warm and decide to take off its “coat” for the North to determine to give up its nuclear programs and military-first principle, however, alterations in its DNA structure will be required. Recently, South Korean TV dramas and movies which vividly reflect the values and culture of the South Korean society have spread widely, albeit secretly. They have stirred North Korean society such that North Koreans have begun to imitate the South Korean culture in their everyday lives. In the unification process of Germany, TV broadcasts and other visual media played a pivotal role in motivating East Germans to want to be united with West Germans deep within their psyche. Therefore, it is only timely and extremely significant to try to draw positive implications for the Korean peninsula through reviews and comparisons of the Hallyu phenomenon in North Korea with the impacts of West Germany’s visual media on the unification of Germany. Contents I. Introduction II. Evolution Processes of Hallyu and Perspectives on the Wave III. Characteristics of North Korea’s Broadcast Media and Control of Information Technology in North Korea IV. Current State and Tasks of South Korea’s Radio Broadcast toward the North V. Reality of the Hallyu Phenomenon in North Korea and its Cultural Implications VI. Roles of Broadcast Media in the German Unification Processes VII. Implications of the Hallyu Phenomenon in North Korea from the standpoint of the German Unification Processes