| Korean reunification | |
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Unification Flag of Korea |
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| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 조국통일 |
| Hanja | 祖國統一 |
| Revised Romanization | Joguk Tong(-)il |
| McCune–Reischauer | Choguk T'ongil |
Korean reunification (Korean: 조국통일, also called 남북통일 (in the South, literally South-North Reunification) and 북남통일 (in the North, literally North–South Reunification)) refers to the hypothetical future reunification of North Korea and South Korea under a single government. The process towards this was started by the June 15th North–South Joint Declaration in August 2000, where the two countries agreed to work towards a peaceful reunification in the future.
However, there are a number of difficulties in this process due to the large political and economic differences between the two countries and other state actors such as the People's Republic of China, Russia, Japan, and the United States. Short-term problems, such as potentially large numbers of refugees migrating from North Korea and initial economic and political instability, and long-term problems, such as cultural differences and possible discrimination, would need to be resolved.
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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 division of the peninsula into military occupation zones at the 38th parallel — a northern zone administered by the Soviet Union and a southern zone administered by the United States — was agreed by the two superpowers in 1945. This was not originally intended to result in a long-lasting partition, but Cold War politics resulted in the establishment of two separate governments in the two zones in 1948 and rising tensions prevented cooperation. The desire of many Koreans for a peaceful unification was ended when the Korean War broke out in 1950.[1] In June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, beginning the Korean War. After three 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 with an Armistice Agreement at approximately the same boundary, with both Koreas making slight territorial gains. The two countries never signed a peace treaty.
Despite now being politically separate entities, the governments of North and South Korea have proclaimed the eventual restoration of Korea as a single state as a goal. After the “Nixon shock” in 1971 that led to détente between the United States and China, the North and South Korean governments made the surprising joint announcement on July 4, 1972 that a representative of each government had secretly visited the capital city of the other side and that both sides had agreed to a North-South Joint Communiqué, outlining the steps to be taken towards achieving a peaceful reunification of the country:
The agreement outlined the steps to be taken towards achieving a peaceful reunification of the country. However, the North-South Coordination Committee was disbanded the following year after no progress had been made towards implementing the agreement. In January 1989, the founder of Hyundai, Chong Chu-yong, toured North Korea and promoted tourism in the Diamond Mountains. After a twelve-year hiatus, the prime ministers of the two Koreas met in Seoul in September 1990 to engage in the Inter-Korean Summits or High-Level Talks. In December, the two countries reached an agreement on issues of reconciliation, nonaggression, cooperation, and exchange between North and South in "The Agreement on Reconciliation, Nonaggression, Cooperation, and Exchange Between North and South," but these talks collapsed over inspection of nuclear facilities. In 1994, after former-US President Jimmy Carter's visit to Pyongyang, the leaders of the two Koreas agreed to meet with each other, but the meeting was prevented by the death of Kim Il-sung that July.[3]
In August 2000, North and South Korea signed the June 15th North-South Joint Declaration, in which both sides made promises to seek out a peaceful reunification:[4]
A unified Korean team marched in the opening ceremonies of the 2000, 2004, and 2006 Olympics, but the North and South Korean national teams competed separately. There were plans for a truly unified team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, but the two countries 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.
Eventual political integration of the Koreas under a democratic government from the South is generally viewed as inevitable by U.S. and South Korea. However, the nature of unification, i.e. 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, the People's Republic of China, Japan, Russia, and the United States. Some political analysts even say the process of reunification has already begun,[5] albeit at a very gradual pace, through the current process of reconciliation and economic cooperation between the two Koreas.
Bruce Cumings speculated that "it seems to me that for all these reasons, and short of a catastrophic war, no reunifed Korea will emerge before a prolonged period of regional sovereignty, perhaps under one national name and one flag, perhaps for years to come." [6]
In 2010, relations between the two Koreas were strained by the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan and the loss of its 46-man crew, which an official investigation concluded was due to the explosion of a torpedo several meters from the ship[7] (North Korea denied any such action) and the bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island by North Korean forces, leaving two South Korean marines and two civilians dead, in response to regular South Korea artillery exercises (which North Korea had requested be called off).[8]
The death of Kim Jong-il since December 18, 2011 has led to uncertainty regarding North Korea's future as the current transition of power may be questioned. This has led to fear of a crisis on the Korean Peninsula. Instability in North Korea could lead to a transition in power which would result in regime change once a successor is officially named.[9]
Introduced by the Millennium Democratic Party under President Kim Dae-jung, as part of a campaign pledge to "actively pursue reconciliation and cooperation" with North Korea, the Sunshine Policy was intended to create conditions of economic assistance and cooperation for reunification, rather than sanctions and military threats. The plan was divided into three parts: increased cooperation through inter-Korean organizations (while maintaining separate systems in the North and South), national unification with two autonomous regional governments, and finally the creation of a central national government. In 1998, Kim approved large shipments of food aid to the North Korean government, lifted limits on business deals between North Korean and South Korean firms, and even called for a stop to the American economic embargo against the North. In June 2000, the leaders of North and South Korea met in Pyongyang and shook hands for the first time since the division of Korea.
Despite the continuation of the Sunshine Policy under the Roh administration, it was eventually declared a failure by South Korean Unification Ministry in November 2010 over issues of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, stymied further negotiations, and newly strained relations between the two Koreas.
Opponents of the Sunshine Policy argue that dialogue and trade with North Korea did nothing to improve prospects for peaceful reunification, despite the transfer of large funds to the North Korean government by President Kim Dae-jung, and only allowed the North Korean government to retain its hold on power. Others, such as the Grand National Party, believe South Korea should remain prepared for the event of a North Korean attack. Hardline 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.
In November 2000, President Clinton wanted to visit Pyongyang. However, with the domestic instability caused by the Al Gore/Bush elections, the intended visit never came to happen. Around April or May 2001, Kim Dae Jung was expecting to welcome Kim Jong Il to Seoul. Returning from his meeting in Washington with newly elected President Bush, Kim Dae Jung described his meeting as embarrassing while privately cursing President Bush and his hard liner approach. This meeting negated any chance of a North Korean visit to Korea. With the Bush administration labeling North Korea as being part of the "axis of evil", North Korea renounced the nonproliferation treaty, kicked out UN inspectors, and restarted their nuclear program.[10] The current war in Iraq only heightened fears for the North Korean leaders. North Korea feels that the war in Iraq proves that even if a country disarms under UN inspection, it can still be invaded by the United States. They saw what happened to Iraq could happen in their own country if they did not have their guard up. North Korea already felt that the United States should mind its own business and not interfere with Korean affairs, so the invasion into Iraq only proved their theories right that the United States could potentially invade North Korea as well. Therefore in early 2005, North Korea finally conceded that they did have nuclear weapons. American foreign policy became preoccupied with Iraq, and North Korea returned to its tried and true strategy of the Cold War: stubborn intransigence.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13]
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.
In 1973, North Korea proposed forming a Confederal Republic of Koryo that would represent Korean people in the UN.[14] The North Korean President Kim Il Sung elaborated on the proposed state (then called Democratic Confederal Republic of Koryo[15]) 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 their respective political systems would initially remain.[16]
While the situation of South and North Korea might seem comparable to East and West Germany, another country divided by Cold War politics, there are some notable differences. Germany did not have a civil war that resulted in millions of casualties, meaning "it is very hard to believe that People's Army commanders who fought the South in such a bloody fratricidal war would allow the ROK to overwhelm the DPRK, by whatever means." Both sides of Germany maintained a working relationship after the war, but the two Koreas' relationship has been more acrimonious.[17]
The East Germans also had 360,000 Soviet troops on their soil in 1989; however, North Korea has not had any Soviet troops on it soil since 1948. "East Germany collapsed because Gorbachev chose to do what none of his predecessors would ever have done, namely, keep those troops in their barracks rather than mobilize them to save the Honecker regime." The East Germans looked favorably at the fact that West Germans had good retirement benefits, public order, and strong civil society; whereas the North Korean citizens do not see such immediate benefits from uniting with South Korea.[18]
Under Roh Tae Woo, a former ROK army general and politician, the Seoul government was able to create a "Nordpolitik" policy on the Germany's model, "Ostpolitik" hoping to make trading agreements with P'yongyang.[19]
The cultures of the two halves have separated following partition, even though traditional Korean culture and history are shared. In addition, many families were split by the division of Korea. In the practically comparable situation of the German reunification, the 41-year-long separation has left significant impacts on German culture and society, even after 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 hypothetical Korean reunification.
Economic differences between North and South Korea also are a cause of concern. Korean reunification would differ from the German reunification precedent:
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.
On January 1, 2011, a group of twelve lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties introduced a bill into the National Assembly to allow for the establishment of a ‘unification tax’. The bill called for businesses to pay 0.5 percent of corporate tax, individuals to pay 5 percent of inheritance or gift taxes, and both individuals and companies to pay two percent of their income tax towards the cost of unification. The bill initiated legislative debate on practical measures to prepare for unification, as proposed by President Lee Myung-Bak in his Liberation Day speech the previous year. The proposal for a unification tax was not warmly welcomed at the time. Lee has since reiterated concerns regarding the imminence of unification, which, combined with North Korean behavior, led to the tax proposal gaining wider acceptance. Practical measures to prepare for unification are becoming an increasingly frequent aspect of political debate, as concern regarding imminent and abrupt unification increases.[24]
Currently, political issues such as differing 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 promoted in the civilian population. For example, a poster displaying two Korean characters (반공 /Ban-gong; 反共) 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. In the North, the Korean Central News Agency often refers to the South Korean government as a "puppet government",[25][26] which in the opinion of North Korean leadership is the real obstacle to reunification. An 'Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front' is a South Korean pro-DPRK organization that mostly operates from the North and aims at reunification from the DPRK perspective.
The United States officially supports Korean reunification under a democratic government. Mike Mansfield proposed that Korea be neutralized under a great-power agreement, accompanied by the withdrawal of all foreign troops and the discontinuation of security treaties with the great power guarantors of the North and South. The United States might find it to be positive to have a reunited Korea on their side, with growing tensions with Tokyo and Beijing the reunification of Korea would prove to be beneficial to the States.[27]
In the 1990s, the Clinton administration was caught in the issues surrounding the controversial Spirit Games, but it helped to turn around the situation regarding peace with North Korea through the support of Jimmy Carter. It promised light water reactors in exchange for the availability of North Korea for inspection of its facilities and other concessions. North Korea, which had previously blamed by the United Nations for being the aggressor in the Korean War, reacted positively. It proceeded to try normalizing relations with Japan as well as the United States. Kim Dae-Chung did not shy away from supporting this idea. North Korea actually supported the American military's position on the frontlines because it helped prevent an outbreak of war. Eventually, aid and oil were supplied to Korea, and cooperation with South Korean business firms was accepted. However, one of the remaining fears was that North Korea still had the ability to develop America's nuclear technology because it had the necessary uranium deposits.
Henry Kissinger, another supporter of Korean unification, proposed a six-party conference to find a way out of the Korean dilemma, composed of the two Koreas and four powers connected to Korea (the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and Japan). Also known as a "four plus two" scenario, it was always denounced by the North Koreans because, they said, it left Korea at the mercy of the great powers and insinuated Japanese power back into the Korean situation. The reason that North Korea was against the idea was that P'yongyang was not confident in simultaneous help from Beijing and Moscow.[27]
The Chinese government officially supports reunification under peaceful means. The 2010 United States diplomatic cables leak mentions two unnamed Chinese officials claiming that the younger generation of Chinese leaders is willing to accept the unification of Korea under South Korean rule, on condition that a unified Korea not be hostile to China.[28] The report claimed that senior Chinese officials were becoming increasingly frustrated with the North acting like a "spoiled child" following its repeated missile and nuclear tests which were seen as a gesture of defiance to not just the West, but also to China, as well as its 2010 Bombardment of Yeonpyeong. A senior Chinese diplomat said that Chinese public opinion was running out of patience with the North's behavior, which influenced the leadership.[29] According to the cables, the Deputy Foreign Minister of South Korea was told by the two Chinese officials that Korea should be reunified under South Korean rule, and that this opinion was gaining ground among Chinese leaders.[30] According to leading Chinese business magazine Caixin, North Korea accounts for 40% of China's foreign aid budget and 50,000 tonnes of oil exports per month to maintain a buffer state against Japan, South Korea, and the United States, but that the three nations were no longer China's enemies, and that trade and investment with them was worth billions of dollars, while its support of North Korea was expensive and internationally embarrassing to support due to its "unruly" behavior and defiance towards China.[31]
Following a summit meeting in Pyongyang on June 13–15, 2000 between leaders of the two countries, the chairpersons of the Millennium Summit issued a statement welcoming their Joint Declaration as a breakthrough in bringing peace, stability, and reunification to the Korean peninsula.[32] Seven weeks later, a resolution to the same effect was passed by the United Nations General Assembly after being co-sponsored by 150 other nations.[33]
A scheduled General Assembly debate on the topic in 2002 was deferred for a year at the request of both nations,[34] and when the subject returned in 2003, it was immediately dropped off the agenda.[35]
The issue did not return to the General Assembly until 2007,[36] following a second inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang on October 2–4, 2007. These talks were held during one round of the Six-Party Talks in Beijing which committed to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.[37]
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