What is peace in the eyes of South Koreans? To answer this question, a word association task was peace is perceived in the minds of the public in the Republic of Korea (ROK). Questions were asked to people about the first three words that come to their minds when thinking of a word “peace.” This word association task presupposes that words, either highly relevant in meanings or important are linked with one another and thus represented in one’s memory. In short, words highly relevant in meanings are strongly connected in proximity and in intensity. Therefore, a cluster of reactive words reflects people’s (sub)conscious understanding of the concept of words presented to them.1) Most research focuses on the analysis of words that immediately come to people’s minds in a survey(hereinafter referred to as “the first-group word”). However, sometimes a certain research requires many reactive words to presented words depending on its goal. ....

1. Representation of Peace 2. Outline of Peace and War on the Korean Peninsula, The Way Peace is Realized, and Attitudes on Inter-Korean Reconciliation 3. Summary and Policy Implications