Development of a Unification Competence Inventory

Purpose: With the Korean Peninsula remaining divided, unification is increasingly perceived not as a one-time event but as a long-term peace-building process. Consequently, there is a growing need to identify the concrete components and levels of ‘unification competence’ that citizens can enact in daily life. This study aimed to specify the core factors of unification competence for Korean citizens and to develop and validate a scale for its measurement. Methods: Preliminary items were generated through a literature review and expert panel discussions. After content-validity indexing (CVI), fifty-four items were retained. A preliminary survey with 137 adults was conducted and subjected to an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Using the refined item pool, a main survey of 242 adults was administered; confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was then performed to finalize the scale. Results: EFA and CFA yielded eighteen items loading on four factors. Peaceful Contribution (7 items), Respect for Diversity (5 items), Communication & Action (3 items), and Critical Thinking (3 items). The four factors share a common orientation toward contributing to a peaceful transition on the Korean Peninsula and collectively offer an integrated framework for the competencies individuals can demonstrate in the process of peaceful unification. Conclusion: This unification competence scale proposed in this study organizes the competencies that citizens should possess as agents of unification into four factors. The instrument can inform goal setting and impact evaluation in unification and peace education programs, while also providing citizens with a practical diagnostic tool to assess and enhance their own unification competence.