| Abstract: | Focusing on the Sino-South Korean diplomatic normalization, this article analyzes the decision-making structure and policy process using South Korea’s Nordpolitik toward China as a case study. The author examines the decision-making structure and process with respect to the institutions and players within the government that were directly involved in Nordpolitik in general and the Sino-South Korean normalization talks in particular, and concludes by discerning some distinct decision-making patterns manifested in the course of Nordpolitik. The author asserts that only President Roh Tae Woo and his closest aides in the Presidential Secretariat and the Agency for National Security Planning shaped the course of Nordpolitik; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs played only a minor role in the implementing stage. |
