Korean reunification

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Korean reunification
Unification Flag of Korea
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 historic 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 hurdles in this process due to the large political and economic differences between the two countries and other state actors such as China, Russia, the United States and Japan. 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.

Contents 1 Division 2 Current status 3 Summits and General Assembly meetings 4 Hurdles in the process 4.1 Economy 4.2 Politics and ideology 5 In popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Division

North Korea This article is part of the series: Politics and government of North Korea Constitution Juche Eternal President: Kim Il-sung Supreme Leader: Kim Jong-il Supreme People's Assembly President: Kim Yong-nam National Defence Commission Chairman: Kim Jong-il Government Premier: Kim Yong-il Subdivisions Judiciary Political parties Workers' Party of Korea Korean Social Democratic Party Chondoist Chongu Party Elections: 2003, 2009 Korean reunification Human rights Foreign relations Songun policy Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view • talk • edit

South Korea This article is part of the series: Politics and government of South Korea Government Constitution Executive President (list) Prime Minister (list) Ministries National Assembly GNP · DEP · LFP · Park · DLP · CKP · NPP Supreme Court Chief Justice Elections Presidential elections 1997 • 2002 • 2007 General elections 2000 • 2004 • 2008 Related topics Korean reunification Sunshine Policy Administrative divisions Human rights Foreign relations Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view • talk • edit

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 divided 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.

[edit] Current status

Some political analysts and many Koreans would say the process of reunification has already begun,^[1] albeit at a very gradual pace, through the current process of reconciliation and economic cooperation between the two Koreas. However, the Korean Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas remains heavily guarded.

[edit] 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 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.^[2] Seven weeks later a resolution to the same effect passed by the United Nations General Assembly after being co-sponsored by 150 other nations.^[3]

A scheduled General Assembly debate on the topic in 2002 was deferred for a year at the request of both nations,^[4] and when the subject returned in 2003 it was immediately dropped off the agenda.^[5]

The issue did not return to the General Assembly until 2007,^[6] 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.^[7]

[edit] Hurdles in the process

[edit] Economy

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 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).^[9][10] The ratio is about 15:1 in Korea (US$27,100 for South, US$1,800 for North),^[11] 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^{[citation needed]} 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 or read foreign publications. In addition, the time period in which the two countries have been divided is longer; 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.

[edit] Politics and ideology

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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.^{[citation needed]} In the North, the Korean Central News Agency often refers to the South Korean government as a "puppet government".^[12][13]

[edit] 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 (천군; 天軍) or "Heaven's Soldiers", directed by Min Joon Gi, portrayed North and South Korean soldiers who travel in time to 1572 and join the 16th 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 (예스터데이) 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 (쉬리), 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.
• Tong-Il (통일 / 統一) is also the final pattern (Tul)in the ITF-style Taekwon-Do syllabus performed by 6th Dan candidates testing for 7th Degree Black Belt (Master). It is composed of 56 movements. Below is the official pattern interpretation used by the 3 ITF organisations -

Tong-il denotes the resolution of the unification of Korea which has been divided since 1945. The diagram symbolizes the homogenous race.

[edit] See also

• Division of Korea
• List of Korea-related topics
• Chinese reunification
• Cypriot reunification
• German reunification
• Romanian reunification
• Indian reunification

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ministry of Unification (South Korea)
• Article from DPRK Studies
• Korean Unification Studies
• Tongil Korea Net (Selected News and Opinions on Korean Reunification Issues)