ABSTRACT
After President Kim Young-sam took office in South Korea in 1993 he faced a number of very tough problems. The successful solution to all or at least most of these problems is a necessary precondition for the dovetailing of any imaginable form of unification process. The fact that South Korea has not yet fully overcome its basically authoritarian politico-administrative structures might turn out to be a blessing in disguise, since it would certainly make it much easier to bring the Northern and Southern systems together. Any form of unification process will have to pass through a transitory period of guided authoritarian centralism in order to cope with the following issues. 1. Inching closer to a totally unpredictable North Korea to woo the
hostile neighbour into closer cooperation~ without .loudly clamouring for an early unification although this remains the top priority on South Korea's political agenda.
