Park Geun Hye on Trustpolitik

Park Geun-hye's core foreign policy for inter-Korean relations was the Korean Peninsula Trust Building Process, widely known as Trustpolitik. This approach was fundamentally rooted in the belief that stability and eventual unification on the Korean Peninsula required South Korea to foster gradual reconciliation with the North through dialogue and cooperation, but only on the basis of principled action and adherence to international norms. Key evidence of this stance included proposals for dialogue on issues like separated family reunions while simultaneously demanding the North end its nuclear ambitions as a prerequisite for broader normalization of relations, as seen in the fluctuating status of the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

Despite the initial emphasis on building trust, the policy faced significant challenges when North Korea continued its pursuit of nuclear capabilities and made provocations. The approach was implicitly modified to incorporate more assertive measures when dialogue stalled or trust was broken, such as closing the Kaesong complex due to concerns over funds supporting the nuclear program. This suggests an evolution from pure engagement to a strategy that combined proactive efforts at reducing tensions with a firm stance against unilateral breaches, indicating that genuine trust could only be built upon structures requiring mutual cooperation rather than simple trust between adversaries.