Korean reunification
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Template:Koreanname Image:Korea unified flag.png Korean reunification is the possible future unification of North Korea and South Korea under a single government.
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Division
Main article: Division of Korea
Template:Politics of South Korea Template:Politics of North Korea Japan occupied Korea from 1910 until 1945. After Japan's defeat in World War II, the United Nations developed plans for trusteeship administration of Korea. The 38th parallel divided the peninsula into two zones of administration: the United States to the south and the Soviet Union to the north. 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 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 are plans for a truly unified team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the 1991 table tennis world championships in Chiba, Japan, the two countries formed a unified team.
Reunification process
The "Sunshine Policy"
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 is continued by the Roh Mu-hyun government. South Korea's Hyundai Asan played a major role in pioneering commercial links with the North.
A hard-line 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 many see as 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, and decry suspected 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.
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. [1]
Hurdles in the process
South Korea
- The cultures of the two halves has diverged following partition, even though traditional Korean culture and history are shared. In addition, many families have been split by the division of Korea.
- Economic differences between South Korea and North Korea also are a cause of concern. Korean reunification would differ from the German reunification precedent:
- In absolute terms, South Korea's economy is not as strong as West Germany's was.
- In relative terms, North Korea's economy is far worse than that of East Germany's. The income per capita ratio (PPP) was about 3:1 in Germany (about US$25,000 for West, about US$8,500 for East) [2]. The ratio is about 18:1 in Korea (over US$17,700 for South, US$1,000 for North, CIA Factbook 2005), 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.
- Thirdly, 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).
- Fourthly, it must be noted that the German economy still suffers (more than 15 years later) from rapid reunification. In addition, some analysts warn that rapid reunification might bring the South Korean economy to the point of collapse. It could also bring a flood of refugees into South Korea, causing a social and economic crisis.
- The consequence of the economic differences is that many South Koreans, while desirous of 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.
- Currently, political issues, such as diametrically opposite forms of government, and the influence of the U.S. government over South Korea, 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 (반공; 反共) meaning "fight 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.[3]
North Korea
North Korea faces many challenges: recent famines have made North Korea incapable of feeding itself and has placed the government, as well as the Juche ideology, in a difficult position. It is not known how much support the government commands among North Korea's common people; it has been suggested that few North Koreans are loyal to Kim Jong-il himself; he is allowed to remain in power partly due to the respect (or fear) many in North Korea have for his father, Kim Il-sung. North Korea's government is reliant on the foreign aid which feeds most of North Korea's people; at the same time, potential social and political instability caused by the influx of outside influence remains a constant worry for North Korea's government.
China
The Chinese government has shown a desire to maintain the status quo on the Korean peninsula; any potential sudden moves that would destabilize the Korean peninsula and threaten a mass exodus of North Koreans into Chinese territory are a major cause of concern for the Chinese government.