An Implication Research for the Korean Unification Laws by the Reconstruction Era after the American Civil War
Authors:   European Constitutional Law Association, Kim Sung-Bae 
Published: September 2022

The American Civil War in the middle of the 19th century and the reconstruction policy to heal its wounds occurred less than 100 years after the founding of the United States. It occurred at a time when the relationship between the state and the state as well as the President as commander-in-chief and Congress, which had the power to declare war and was responsible for supporting the federal army, was not clearly established. Therefore, based on the ambiguity of the constitutional level, mutual interests collided, resulting in confusion in reconstruction policies and political struggles after the Civil War. The implications of Korea's unification legislation through the US Civil War and reconstruction policies and their confusion are as follows.
In the process of unification, it is necessary to check the mechanisms that can prevent corruption of the administration, which has discretionary power, and ensure transparency and appropriateness of projects that receive large-scale public funds. There is a need to organize and arrange examples of decisions that are outside the limits and limits allowed in the constitutional order, and there is a need to prepare and test a device for continuation of the people's unity and determination in the unification process. From the point of view of popular sovereignty, major decisions in the unification process must be submitted to a referendum to confirm the will of the people, but parliamentary democracy needs to be supplemented in that unification may come more suddenly than expected.
It is difficult to expect the current referendum law to serve as a guideline for resolving political confusion or disagreement that may arise during the unification process. If it is difficult to amend the Constitution, it will be necessary to try to elaborate on the important policies stipulated in Article 72 of the Constitution in the Referendum Act or prepare a chapter related to unification to prepare for the unification process. By amending the Constitution and the Martial Law in a way that does not provoke North Korea, the division of emergency and security martial arts has been diversified into one form of protection or security or reconstruction martial law for special situations for support and protection in the process of unification. You may also consider reorganizing the chapter. The 「Act on the Protection and Support of North Korean Residents」 could be enacted, but it is also necessary to check whether the current law can be applied by analogy, and whether it can be used in an emergency by entrusting it with a presidential decree or by adding provisions to the current law. do. It may be possible to consider a bill focusing on the principles and standards of participation of private organizations, neutral and independent inspection by a third party on the implementation project, and evaluation and re-support of the support project. In addition to cooperation in dialogue and exchanges before unification, the distinction, cooperation, and role allocation of the competent authorities in each unification scenario should be checked.