다문화사회를 전제한 통일준비과정에서 민족의 의미에 대한 헌법적 재해석의 필요성

The advent of the global era has led to the generalization of free migration and residence across borders, which has led to the constant presence of multiple (national) groups that are difficult to expect national homogeneity within the territory of a single country. This change in the social environment, also explained as a multicultural society, has become an opportunity to reexamine the value of diversity - which was previously considered difficult to coexist - in explaining the concept of Nation. A nation is a ‘cultural community formed historically by sharing various cultural contents such as language, customs, religion, politics, and economy through long-term communal living in a certain area and uniting according to a sense of belonging to the group.’ However, the meaning that the absoluteness of the concept of nation has been weakened in a multicultural society or that the elements that constitute a nation have been relativized means that the possibility of forming a single nation has opened up even though it is not a group that shares history and culture. Unification, which is formed on the premise of a multicultural society, can be said to be reconciling the differences between the two Koreas that exist in all areas of our society while reconciling the heterogeneity. Therefore, the consideration of the concept of nation in the preparation process for unification becomes a matter of suggesting a direction for various (national) groups with differences and heterogeneity to live in harmony and coexistence. The issue of unification ultimately comes into contact with preparation for a multicultural society formed by multiple ethnicities. Therefore, the process of preparing for unification in a multicultural society can be said to be a process of enhancing communication and coexistence among various (national) groups within society, such as marriage immigrants, foreign workers, and North Korean defectors. In this process, the main focus should be to form a standard value that can unite various (national) groups within society and to form a new nation based on this. The ‘desire for peaceful survival’ can be discussed as a new standard value. In the process of unification, the ‘desire for peaceful survival’ as a new national element becomes a new focal point that embraces various (national) groups, and at the same time, it becomes the main basis for the necessity and legitimacy of unification.