A sunshine policy na Coreia do Sul o impacto da política de unificação de Moon Jae In e os Jogos Olímpicos de Pyeongchang (2017 – 2018)

Abstract

The Sunshine Policy is one of the South Korean unification policies that, with the support of soft power instruments in sport for 22 years, tries to promote the hope for national unification based on the ethnic identity of the legend Hongik Ingan. From the President Moon Jae In mandate (2017 – present), we analyze how his national unification policy was expressed with the support of the constructions of unification possibilities during two moments of the PyeongChang Olympic Games: 1) the opening ceremony of the Games; 2) the ice hockey team with athletes from both Koreas. In the last 10 years, in South Korea, the need for the unification is changing, especially in younger generations. According to the Korea Institute for National Unification in 2017, 57.8% of respondents supported unification of the Korean Peninsula (Lee, 2019c). Given this reality, what is the impact of Moon Jae In's national unification policy in South Korean society? Moon Jae In's presidency tried to create a reconciliation image with North Korea and, with the support of politic propaganda in sports, tried to send two messages: the unification is possible and both Koreas can coexist pacifically. How did the organization of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang influence the position of South Korean society in the face of a potential reunification between the two Koreas? According to a poll of SBS, South Korea TV station, 72.2% rejected a joint coalition ice hockey team with North Korea (Kim, 2018f). In this thesis, it is noted that the desire for national unification has been decreasing in South Korean society, especially when it is associated with ethnic identity.

Date of Award	3 Mar 2021
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Jorge Santos Alves (Supervisor) & Luís Mah (Co-Supervisor)