Since its inauguration in 2003, the Roh Moo-hyun Administration, dubbed the Participatory Government, has consistently pursued the Policy of Peace and Prosperity, which built on the Sunshine Policy of Reconciliation and Cooperation of the Kim Dae-jung Administration. The policy is based on recognition that a peace framework is needed not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the entire Northeast Asian region. The main thrust of the policy is to achieve peace and prosperity throughout the region while the South and the North exert efforts to find a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue.

Inter-Korean Exchanges of Personnel (1989-2005)

Under the policy, the South Korean government has implemented several measures to deepen and develop substantial inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation in political, economic, military, social and cultural fields. Those measures have facilitated changes in North Korea and secured a basis for peace to take root on the Korean Peninsula and for the two Koreas to work together for co-prosperity.

In 2005, the third year of the Policy for Peace and Prosperity, there were tangible results in inter-Korean relations. In that year alone, a total of 88,341 South and North Koreans traveled to each others' regions, which surpassed the total number of inter-Korean visits (85,400) made over the previous 15 years combined. This increase is meaningful because it paves the way for the South and the North to form a single community of reconciliation and cooperation by relieving sense of hostility through enhanced understanding.

In addition, the South and the North implemented concrete measures to ease military tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Both Koreas ceased propaganda activities and removed propaganda equipment in the Demilitarized Zone and installed a hot line between the military authorities.