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Korean reunification
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Korean reunification (Korean: ????) refers to the future reunification of North Korea and South Korea under a single government currently in progress. It was started by the historic June 15th North-South Joint Declaration in August 2000, where the two countries agreed to work towards a peaceful reunification in the future. If reunited, Korea is expected to emerge as a major great power, exerting a significant economic, military and political strength and influence in the world, with a total population of over 77 million.
Initially, combining the world's fifth and eighth largest armed forces will create the second largest armed forces in the world — larger than that of the United States — taking advantage of North Korea's substantial arsenal of nuclear and chemical weapons and South Korea's technologically advanced and well-armed military.
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Encyclopedia
Korean reunification (Korean: ????) refers to the future reunification of North Korea and South Korea under a single government currently in progress. It was started by the historic June 15th North-South Joint Declaration in August 2000, where the two countries agreed to work towards a peaceful reunification in the future. If reunited, Korea is expected to emerge as a major great power, exerting a significant economic, military and political strength and influence in the world, with a total population of over 77 million.
Initially, combining the world's fifth and eighth largest armed forces will create the second largest armed forces in the world — larger than that of the United States — taking advantage of North Korea's substantial arsenal of nuclear and chemical weapons and South Korea's technologically advanced and well-armed military. By a significant margin, a reunited Korea will have the world's largest reserve troops and have a considerable amount of military equipment — a reunited Korea will possess the world's third largest number of tanks and submarines and operate the fourth largest air force and sixth largest fleet of destroyers in the world.
However, there are a number of hurdles in this process due to the large political and economic differences between the two countries. Short-term problems such as a large number of refugees from the North migrating into the South and initial economic and political instability would need to be overcome. Long-term problems such as cultural differences, contrasting political ideologies and possible discrimination will also need to be resolved.
Division
Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and ruled over it until 1945. After Japan's defeat in World War II, the United Nations developed plans for trusteeship administration of Korea.
The 38th parallel divides the peninsula into two zones of administration: the Soviet Union to the north and the United States to the south. Cold War politics resulted in the 1948 establishment of two separate governments. In June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, beginning the Korean War. After three devastating years of fighting that involved the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union, and the United Nations led by the U.S., the war ended in a ceasefire agreement at approximately the same boundary, with South Korea making slight territorial gains. The two countries never signed a peace treaty.
Despite now being politically separate entities, both governments proclaim as a goal the eventual restoration of Korea as a single state. A unified Korea is a very important component of Korean national identity. A unified Korean team marched in the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, but the North and South Korean national teams competed separately. There were plans for a truly unified team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, but they were unable to agree on the details of its implementation. In the 1991 table tennis world championships in Chiba, Japan, the two countries formed a unified team.
Current status
Eventual political integration of the Koreas under a democratic government from the South is generally viewed as inevitable by all parties involved, except perhaps North Korea. However, the nature of reunification, ie. through North Korean collapse or gradual integration of the North and South, is still a topic of intense political debate and even conflict among interested parties, who include both Koreas, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States.
Some political analysts and many Koreans would say the process of reunification has already begun, albeit at a very gradual pace, through the current process of reconciliation and economic cooperation between the two Koreas. On the other hand, current reality would seem to show otherwise, as the DMZ that separates the two Koreas remains heavily guarded (120 million NK) and North Korea has yet to give up its nuclear weapons. Yet optimists point towards recent thaws in inter-Korean relations and unprecedented dialogue and cooperation between the Koreas as signs that, unlike in the past where Korea was caught between China, Japan, Russia, and the US, the Koreans are now taking reunification into their own hands.
Summits and General Assembly meetings
Following a summit meeting in Pyongyang from 13 to 15 June 2000 between the leaders of the two countries, the chairperson's of the Millennium Summit issued a statement welcoming their Joint Declaration as a breakthrough in bringing peace, stability and reunification to the Korean peninsula. Seven weeks later a resolution to the same effect passed by the United Nations General Assembly after being co-sponsored by 150 other nations.
A scheduled General Assembly debate in on the topic in 2002 was deferred for a year at the request of both nations, and when the subject returned in 2003 it was immediately dropped off the agenda.
The issue didn't return to the General Assembly until 2007, following a second inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang from 2 to 4 October 2007. These talks were held during one the round of the Six-Party Talks in Beijing which committed to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Reunification strategies
The "Sunshine Policy"
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Supporters of the "Sunshine Policy" argue that sanctions and threats from the governments of the United States and South Korea have harmed, rather than improved, prospects for reunification. They argue that if the North Korean government does not feel threatened by South Korea or the United States, it will have nothing to lose and everything to gain from dialogue and engagement with the outside world, and will have no reason to build weapons of mass destruction. Many argue that the only alternative to dialogue is an unacceptable military outcome. The Sunshine Policy was introduced by the Millennium Democratic Party under President Kim Dae-jung, and was continued by President Roh Mu-hyun. South Korea's Hyundai Asan played a major role in pioneering commercial links with the North.
Korean Economic Community
It has recently been suggested that the formation of a Korean Economic Community could be a way to ease in unification of the Korean peninsula. Lee Myung-bak departing from the Grand National Party's traditional hardline stance has outlined a comprehensive diplomatic package on North Korea that includes setting up a consultative body to discuss economic projects between the two Koreas. He proposed seeking a Korean economic community agreement to provide the legal and systemic basis for any projects agreed to in the body.
A pragmatic policy
Opponents of the "Sunshine Policy" argue that dialogue and trade with North Korea has done nothing to improve prospects for peaceful reunification, and have helped bolster the North Korean government, which is corrupt, undemocratic, and totalitarian. They feel that the North has no real interest in reunification, and is only trying to ensure its own survival.
It is also argued that South Korea has seen little benefit from engagement with North Korea, despite the transfer of large funds to the North Korean government by President Kim Dae-jung. Many also believe South Korea should remain prepared in the event of a North Korean attack. The Grand National Party is in favour of a hard-line position on North Korea. Hard-line policy supporters also argue that the help given to North Korea only continues the regime of Kim Jong-Il and that leaving it alone will eventually bring the collapse of North Korea, thus allowing the country to be reunified under the Republic of Korea.
North Korea's policy
North Korea's policy is to seek reunification without what it sees as outside interference, through a federal structure retaining each side's leadership and systems. Both North and South Korea signed the June 15th North-South Joint Declaration in which both sides made promises to seek out a peaceful reunification. The Democratic Federal Republic of Korea is a proposed state first mentioned by North Korean President Kim Il Sung on October 10, 1980 in the Report to the Sixth Congress of the Worker's Party of Korea on the Work of the Central Committee. Kim proposed a federation between North and South Korea in which the respective political systems would initially remain.
International views
United States
The United States is the primary supporter of a Korean reunification under a democratic, U.S.-allied government. It is in the United States' interest to contain China's growing threat, and an economically, militarily and politically strong Korea next to a communist China, protecting American hegemony from Chinese influence, is highly desirable for the United States.
China
The Chinese government's official stance is to support reunification under peaceful means, although in reality China has a definite interest in ultimately maintaining a divided Korea. North Korea served as a strategic buffer between itself and the U.S.-influenced Japanese and South Korean governments, and the collapse of a communist regime may spark destabilizing effects within its own borders. A reunified Korea under current economic circumstances may deprive China from South Korean investment, which may have to be channeled to the improverished North instead. A potential mass exodus of North Koreans into Chinese territory is a major cause of concern for the Chinese government. The potential Korean claims to some areas of North East China are also seen by Beijing as a reason for trouble.
Despite the possible drawbacks to Korean reunification from the Chinese point of view, it is likely that the Chinese government is still in overall support of reunification for two major reasons: 1) Once Korean reunification is complete, the United States would no longer have a justifiable reason to maintain a military presence in northeast Asia (outside of Japan), thus the U.S. would likely (especially in the face of a possible increasingly nationalistic, reunified Korean population and government) withdraw its forces from the Korean peninsula.
Japan
The Japanese government has expressed its support for eventual reunification of the two Koreas under a democratic government. Still, the current state of Japanese abductees by North Korea continues to be an issue with the Japanese. A group representing the families of abductees have expressed their disappointment in the 2007 inter-Korean summit. This situation is closely tied to Japan's disapproval of any attempt by the United States to remove North Korea from its terror list.
Russia
The Russian government wishes for a unified Korea, as mass emigration from North Korea is an issue for the Russian government.
Both Russia and South Korea are trying to engage North Korea in the cooperation to enable Russian gas to get to South Korea from Russia via North Korean territory.
Russia and South Korea pledged to boost "large-scale bilateral and international projects in developing Russia's Far Eastern and Siberian oil and gas fields", said a joint Russian-South Korean declaration. The two leaders also pledged to support long-term delivery of Russian natural gas to South Korea.
However, North Korea's hardline stance and the controversy over its nuclear ambitions seem to undermine Moscow's plans to integrate Russia's Far East with booming Asian-Pacific economies. Therefore, Russia has a lot to gain from the stable and peaceful Korean Peninsula and eventual Korean reunification.
Hurdles in the process
Culture
The cultures of the two halves have diverged following partition, even though traditional Korean culture and history are shared. In addition, many families have been split by the division of Korea. In the roughly comparable situation of the German reunification, the 38-year-long separation has left significant impacts on German culture and society, even after almost two decades. Given the extreme differences of North and South Korean culture and lifestyle, the effects might last even longer. Many Germans believe that the difference between "Westerners" and "Easterners" will remain "as long as anyone lives who can remember the separation", though these cultural differences are almost non-existent between young people born after or shortly before the reunification. Therefore it is highly likely that the Korean youth will play a major role in the cultural integration after a Korean Reunification.
Economy
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Economic differences between North and South Korea also are a cause of concern. Korean reunification would differ from the German reunification precedent:
- In relative terms, North Korea's economy is currently worse than that of East Germany was in 1990. The income per capita ratio (PPP) was about 3:1 in Germany (US$25,000 for West, about US$8,500 for East). The ratio is about 15:1 in Korea (US$27,100 for South, US$1,800 for North), although GDP estimates vary widely (see List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita). This income gap is rapidly increasing as the North Korean economy stagnates and the South Korean economy is characterized by moderate to high economic growth.
- While at the moment of the German reunification the East German population (around 17,000,000) was about a third of the West German (more than 60,000,000), the North Korean population (around 22,700,000) is currently around a half of the South Korean (around. 48,600,000).
- The North Korean population is far more culturally distinct and isolated than the East German population was in the late 1980s. Unlike in East Germany, North Koreans generally cannot receive foreign broadcasting, read foreign publications or travel overseas. Germany was divided for 44 years, whereas the Koreas have been divided for over 60, and have been technically at war for most of that period.
- The German economy still suffers (more than 15 years later) from rapid reunification, with the former West Germany heavily subsidizing the former East. In addition, some analysts warn that rapid reunification might bring the South Korean economy to the point of collapse. It would also bring a flood of refugees into South Korea, China, and other countries, causing a social and economic crisis.
The consequence of the economic differences is that many South Koreans, while desiring reunification in theory, want to delay the process of reunification until the Northern economy can be developed separately, having seen the results of the sudden reunification of West Germany and East Germany, and knowing the differences between the two Koreas.
Politics and ideology
Currently, political issues such as diametrically opposite forms of government cause most concern. Nevertheless, the attitude of the South Korean government towards North Korea has changed dramatically in the last few decades; during the Park Chung-hee administration, hatred towards the North Korean government was fostered in the civilian population. For example, a poster displaying two Korean characters (?? /Ban-gong; ??) meaning "Against Communism" or "Anti Communism" was posted on every schoolhouse wall. In contrast, a recent comic book published by a South Korean author detailing a less-than-flattering portrait of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was banned because the South Korean government feared that its publication could hurt reunification efforts. It should be noted that the North's own news service often refers to the South Korean government as a "puppet" government.
In popular culture
The issue of Korean reunification was a central or implied theme in several productions, mostly South Korean:
- The 2005 film Cheon gun (??; ??) or "Heaven's Soldiers", directed by Min Joon Gi, portrayed North and South Korean soldiers who travel in time to 1572 and join the 17th Century hero Yi Sun-sin in fighting the Jurchen tribes. This theme clearly uses the figure of Yi, venerated as a National Hero in both parts of contemporary Korea, to plead for Reunification.
- Yesterday is a 2002 film set in 2020 in a unified Korea.
- 2009 Lost Memories, a 2002 film, the backstory of which had a reunified Korea in the year 2008.
- Shiri, a 1999 blockbuster has its male lead describing how the waters from both North and South Korea flow freely together, and how the fish called Shiri can be found in either water without knowing which it belongs to. It was the first major-release film to directly address the issue of Korean reunification.
- The 2005 film A Bold Family (Gan-keun gajok) was a comedy/drama that portrayed a South Korean family who stages a reunification in an attempt to be written into their dying father's will. Directed by Myeong-nam Jo.
See also
External links
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