Has South Korea's Engagement Policy Reduced North Korea's Provocations?

Contrary to the traditional thinking in political liberalism that intertwined economic interests would prevent conflict, South Korea's unilateral engagement policy with North Korea has failed to ease military confrontation, as North Korean boats have continued to cross the Northern Limit Line (NLL). In the economic crisis of the 1990s, North Korea was largely dependent on the fishery industry in order to earn foreign currency. North Korea's outdated fishing boats could not travel beyond its inland sea, but were pressured to fulfill their quota of marine product catches. As a consequence, North Korea's outdated fishing boats were likely to cross the NLL in the hope of exploiting neighboring waters near the NLL. This paper demonstrates that North Korea's NLL violations rise and fall based not on South Korea's engagement or containment policy toward North Korea, but rather on North Korea's need to catch more marine products. The views expressed here are the opinions of the authors and as such do not represent the official position of the South Korean government.