ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the conclusions the author made, highlights the most important findings and answers the research questions that the author stated at the beginning of the book. Re-examining the social modes of role changes, social learning and the mechanism of reflected appraisal seem to be very relevant for North Korean case. Still, the conceptualization of role change as a process is very young and incomplete, and there is wide space for its improvement. This case study of North Korean roles and foreign policy shows that one of the factors that can mould the roles (and subsequently the foreign policy as well) is the threat perception and feeling of insecurity arising from the confrontational approach of significant others. The North Korean case indicates that the influence of significant others on its roles and role sets can be better observed when no internal crises or shock are present. The author suggests that there is an urgent need to focus on options of confidence building and overall understanding of the DPRK when developing negotiation strategies. Such confidence building should start at the grass roots level – the South Korean sunshine policy has taken a step toward this already, as have the activities of various non-governmental organizations inside the DPRK.
