The Effect of Legal Consciousness of the Korean Unification Law on South Koreans’ Attitudes Towards Unification and Preferences on Policies Towards North Korea

The Republic of Korea enacted and promulgated the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act on August 1, 1990 to specifically execute the Special Presidential Declaration for National Pride and Unification Prosperity, expressing its willingness to promote North Korea and unification policies based on the rule of law. As a result, the Ministry of Unification currently holds 31 laws, Presidential decrees, and Ministry of Unification decrees. However, the public's understanding of the Unification Law is insufficient, even though interest in North Korea and inter-Korean relations is high, due to the fact that the North Korea policy has been led by the president and the administration so far and the National Assembly, a legislative body, has been very lowly responsible for inter-Korean relations. Effective rule of law reduces corruption, protects people from injustice, while recognizing responsible government and fundamental rights, and lays the foundation for a community of justice, opportunity, and peace. In order to become an ideal unified state, a legal system must be secured to create a fair society according to reasonable and public rules through "rule of law," not arbitrarily by the ruler. The present study examined the legal consciousness of unification-related laws among 240 South Korean citizens over the age of 19 using an online questionnaire. Results show that legal consciousness of Unification Laws has an impact on attitudes towards unification and preferences for Inter-Korean policy. This suggests that the government could consider expanding the functionality of the Database on a Unified Korea’s Legal System and strengthening legal education in the curriculum of the National Institute for Unification Education.