The Changes of Peace Discourse and Peace Education in Korean Society

Abstract

The Korean Peninsula has been influenced by its geographical locations. The Republic of Korea, born in the conflictual structure of the international power struggle, has endured the difficulties of the Korean War and Cold War. As a result, in Korean society, where peace has had to be craved, nationalism and Cold War conflict have overrun the discourse of peace. In this context, Korean society's peace discourse has focused on overcoming the Peninsula's division rather than pursuing peace as a universal value of human beings. This article aims to review how the attitude and discourse on peace expressed by Korean society have changed under the structure of international power distribution or polarity and how peace education has adapted. For that purpose, this article first reviews the diverse concepts of peace, the process of adaptation of peace discourse and peace education to the changes in the international political situation, and then discusses the possible future directionality of peace education.