Families have been split and millions in the north have been impoverished as the Korean peninsula – and nation – have been divided for more than 60 years.
While South Korea and its 50 million citizens have flourished economically and established a reasonable facsimile of democracy, North Korean has become a pariah state whose only accomplishments have been development of faulty ballistic missiles and evidently effective atomic bombs.
It would seem logical and beneficial to everyone, except perhaps Kim Jong-il and his accomplices to the north, that the two Koreas unify. And yet a significant number of South Koreans believe most of the world wants the countries to remain separated along the heavily militarized 38th parallel that has brutally divided the two territories since a 1953 armistice ended three years of war.
China, which for nearly six years has led the feckless six-country effort to have North Korea dismantle its nuclear capability, is widely believed to want the division to continue. Normally, the argument goes, no one would want a nuclear neighbor, but as the major supporter of Pyongyang’s crippled economy, Beijing effectively controls a major source of raw materials — iron ore, coal, magnesite, copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold — next door and unavailable to industrially developed South Korea.
Russia, who with China has declined to take strong measures to encourage North Korea’s denuclearization and is the country’s next best friend, appears equally uninterested in unification. Moreover, Moscow prefers economically subservient neighbors, which would end if the two Koreas unified.
After all, Seoul observers note, North Korea is the post World War II creation of Josef Stalin, as was the late dictator Kim Il-sung, who remains “Eternal President,” despite son Kim Jong-il being national leader since the former’s 1994 death.
Japan and Korea, divided by the Sea of Japan, have a long and complex relationship. In the seventh century, the Japanese military fought on behalf of southwest Korea’s Baekje dynasty versus warring clans to the north and east.
Numerous Baekje royalty and officials emigrated to Japan and many were assimilated into that nation’s royal family, government and military. The harsh Japanese occupation and annexation of the country from the end of the 19th century to 1945, left deep scars throughout Korean society.
Today, many believe the Japanese, left relatively defenseless by its post World War II constitution, fear a strong united Korea might seek vengeance on its former colonial masters.
But surely the United States, after defending the South for nearly 60 years and with 28 thousand troops still stationed there, would like to see the peninsula unified at last? Perhaps not say some Korean analysts: The country is one of the world’s best markets for American munitions.
But the South Koreans? The unified Korea question is grist for considerable discussion. The single nation dream is deeply felt, especially by those with family in the North.
However, 60 years of stark economic and political differences present huge obstacles to assimilation. The rebuilding investment is daunting, especially given the export-driven economy’s current financial crisis. In short, there is no unified position on unification even below the 38th parallel.
If the North Korean people could speak, they would doubtless opt for unity. But there is no question the unique [except for Cuba, for now] family-run communist regime prefers the status quo, wherein a few thousand apparatchiks enjoy the trappings of power and the high life, while the remaining 22 million people barely subsist.
Repeatedly divided and conquered by native and foreign forces, the Korean people are not close to reunification, and do not seem unified on the subject, themselves. Where there is at best divided will, there is little imaginable way.
Geopolitical analyst and former diplomat John R. Thomson focuses on emerging market geopolitical issues.
