South Korean national identity and inter-Korean relations since 1945

This chapter explores the development of South Korean national identity in relation to North Korea between 1945 and the present day. It draws on constructivist international relations theory to understand the dynamic processes leading to the formation of national identity as part of the nation-building effort. The chapter discusses the events, people and institutions that shaped South Korea’s identity formation through key phases of its short history. It demonstrates the conflicting nature of identification with North Korea as both ‘self’ and ‘other’, and argues that the perpetual ‘othering’ of North Korea over time has rendered the prospects for inter-Korean reunification and re-defining a united Korean identity increasingly uncertain.