Foreign policy priorities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea

In this article, author want to analyze the priorities of foreign policies of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea. In order to achieve the above aim of research, author of this work put a few basic research questions: what are the priorities of North Korean foreign policy and what are the priorities of South Korean foreign policy? The author used the analysis method to demonstrate the originality of this paper. The article allows to pay attention to the extent to which national interests and foreign policies of both Korea differ from each other. The subject of this article has not been studied in polish scientific articles. The author has attempted to fill this gap. North Korea’s foreign policy is focused on surviving regime in the international arena. The priority of foreign policy of the Republic of Korea is primarily the pursuit of deepening economic cooperation with China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

This article focuses on relations between Poland and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea after 1989. Before 1989, bilateral relations between these countries were very close. As of now, the behavior of North Korea toward Poland is based on a rational behavior. The Polish foreign policy toward North Korea is within the EU framework, which supports an evolutionary change in character of the North Korean regime. Poland is involved in North Korea through different fields, especially such as the humanitarian one.

The subject of our interest is to present the significance of the Songun doctrine (Military First) in the North Korea’s internal and international politics. At the beginning, we intend to trace the concept of the Juche ideology and its essential implications for the role of the army in a country ruled by the Kim dynasty since the end of World War II. In the remainder of this study, we would like to characterize the theoretical and explanatory aspects of the Songun doctrine, focusing in particular on reviewing of its principles in terms of politics, economy, culture and propaganda aspects. In the context of the current situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, an important role is played by the Byungjin doctrine, initiated by the country’s leader Kim Jong-un and mentioned in our article, which in the future can contribute to the beginning of reforms in Korea’s economy. In summary, we presented forecasts for the future and our attempt to answer the question whether in the current international situation the Songun doctrine will be implemented in its present form.