作为分裂的国家，统一问题始终是韩国政党无法回避的重要议题。在冷战体系下，反共与南北敌对关系是绝对的政治正确，关于统一问题的相关讨论也受到限制。而随着冷战体系的解构与韩国民主化的转型，韩国政治精英以及一般民众在对待朝鲜、南北统一问题上立场发生了变化。与此同时，民主化以后韩国主要在地域、意识形态以及世代方面出现了社会分歧并影响国内的政党与选举生态。统一问题通过与这些主要政治分歧之间的互动对国内政治，特别是政党竞争产生影响，并随着主要政治分歧之间的力量消长在不同时期表现出不同的特点。
As a divided nation，reunification has been an issue of great political import for parties in South Korea.In the context of the Cold War，anti-communism and an animosity between the DPRK and the ROK spelt the politically correct norms，where the discussions on reunification were limited.With the end of the Cold War and successful democratisation in South Korea，certain changes have emerged with regard to the positions，held by both political elite and the public，on the relations with North Korea and the reunification issue.At the same time，within a democratised South Korea there have emerged social cleavages along geographical locations，ideology and generations- all these cleavages that can impact in no small way the domestic situation of party competition and elections.The issue of reunification exerts its influence upon domestic politics，especially party competition，through its interactions with these major political differences，with its characteristics varying in accordance with the balances of different forces behind these social cleavages.
