Book excerpt: This title was first published in 2003. After the inter-Korean Summit in 2000, the Korean peace process gained a new momentum and the two Koreas increased mutual contacts and exchanges. However, in 2001 the peace process stalled and was further hindered by Bush's hard-line policy towards Pyongyang and North Korea's inflexible attitudes towards Seoul. Interest in the Korean peninsula by the US, Russia, Japan and China, for geo-strategic and geo-economic reasons means that peace and unification will inevitably become an international problem. Against this backdrop, this original volume deals with the problems and prospects of the inter-Korean peace process and the interests, attitudes and policies of these major powers.