The Reconciliation and Cooperation Policy Towards the North (Korean: 대북화해협력정책; Hanja: 對北和解協力政策), colloquially referred to as Sunshine Policy (햇볕정책; 햇볕政策) is one of the approaches for South Korea's foreign policy towards North Korea, lasting from 1998 to 2008 and again from 2017 to 2020.

The policy emerged largely in the context of the growing economic gap between the two Koreas: the South was strengthening itself and experiencing economic prosperity that had begun under President Park Chung Hee in the 1970s while the North was experiencing severe economic decline, consequently caused the 1990s North Korean famine and faced bankruptcy. The Sunshine Policy aimed at mitigating this gap in economic power and restoring lost communication between the two states.

Furthermore, the background to South Korea's decision to engage North Korea through cooperation rather than maintaining a conservative stance in the past shows a historical shift in the South Korea's domestic politics as well. According to Son Key-young, a South Korean author, the Sunshine Policy emerged ultimately as evidence of the evolving South Korean national identity since the Cold War. The end of the Cold War "ushered in an era of unprecedented confusion in South Korea over whether to define North Korea as friend or foe".

The Sunshine Act was created and launched by President Kim Dae-jung in 1998. This policy resulted in greater political contact between the two States and some historic moments in Inter-Korean relations; the three Korean summit meetings in Pyongyang (June 2000, October 2007, and September 2018) and two meetings in Panmunjom (April 2018 and May 2018), as well as several high-profile business ventures, and brief meetings of family members separated by the Korean War. In 2000, Kim Dae-jung, the then-President of South Korea, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his implementation of the Sunshine Policy.

Following the election of Moon Jae-in in 2017, South Korea began reconciling with North Korea once more, thus beginning a revival of the Sunshine Policy. Moon Jae-in's effort to improve the inter-Korean relationship resulted in three inter-Korean summits in a year, including two summits held in Panmunjom (April and May 2018) that marked the first inter-Korean summits to be held outside of Pyongyang, and one in Pyongyang (September 2018). In recognition of Moon's endeavor in inter-Korean relationship as the first president to hold multiple summits in a year, his version of Sunshine Policy became known as "Moonshine Policy".

The policy is also known as The Operational Policy Towards the North (대북운영정책) and The Embracing Policy (포용정책).

The term "Sunshine Policy" originates from a speech given by Kim Dae-jung after his election, in which he referenced The North Wind and the Sun, one of Aesop's fables.

In the tale, the north wind and the sun debate which one is stronger. They challenge each other to see who can get a passing traveler to remove his cloak. The wind tries with all its might to bluster and blow the cloak away, but the wind's chill makes the traveler cling to his cloak even more. The sun, however, has a different effect: its blistering rays cause the traveler to sweat and, unable to continue walking in the sweltering heat, he decides to take off his cloak. Therefore, the meaning can be interpreted as persuasion triumphing over force.