법조 제75권 제3호(통권 제777호) 연구논문 - 386 - ❙Abstract❙ A Study of the Taiwanese Constitution's History - Lessons for Inter-Korean Relations - 61) Lee, Sang Hyeop* The constitutional history of the Republic of China (Taiwan), one of the two pillars of Cross-Strait relations, is so strikingly similar to that of the Republic of Korea that it could be described as a parallel universe. As evidenced by the name “民國” (Republic), its origins lie in the nationalism that surged across East Asian nations in the early 20th century. Furthermore, both Taiwan and South Korea faced immediate division following the withdrawal of Imperial Japan, underwent decades of authoritarian rule, and finally achieved democratization in 1987 as the Cold War drew to a close. In both cases, major steps toward unification were made in 1992. Yet both remain unable to resolve the issue of national division. Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (KMT) government, which relocated from mainland China, utilized the concept of "法統" (constitutional legitimacy) to justify the rule of "外省人" (Mainlanders) over Taiwan. Based on this, they emphasized that Taiwan must unify China, using the ideologies of unification and anti-communism as the foundation for maintaining their authoritarian system. However, since the lifting of martial law in 1987, Taiwan has undergone a process of democratization, and the issue of Cross-Strait relations has consistently remained at the foundation of these constitutional debates. Specifically, constitutional amendments have centered on critical questions: whether the Taiwanese people should continue to adopt the "Constitution of the Republic of China," which was drafted with limited Taiwanese involvement, as their own; whether to continue pursuing unification with the mainland while maintaining the "One China" principle; and how to implement self-governance for the people on the island of Taiwan. In this process, the "Two-State Theory," a concept in tension with "One China," emerged, and constitutional provisions regarding territory and Cross-Strait relations were enacted * Seoul National University Ph.D student, Attorney-at-law
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