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Re-Unification of North and South Korea

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Re-Unification of North and South Korea
The history of Korea can be traced back thousands of years, with Korea having had many and varied master, both from within and outside Korea. Only in recent times though, has Korea been divided as a nation. During World War II, Korean independence fighters formed a Provisional Government is anticipation of the defeat of the Japanese Empire, but it was never implemented. Rather, the Korean Peninsula was divided at the 38th Parallel of latitude with the Russians forming a Communist regime to the North and the United States (U.S) creating a rightist pro-Washington government in South Korea, or the Republic of Korea (ROK). Ideological differences between the isolationist Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the North and the pro-western ROK in the South left to a major war in the 1950’s which never formally ended, but remains to this day in a stale mate condition of cease fire. With the background given above and the scenarios put forth in this paper, a clear argument in favour of peaceful re-Unification will be established. Through process of elimination, peaceful re-unification will be proven to be not only the most likely scenario but also the most achievable.

Five decades have passes and enmity continues to run deep between the North and South in general, and the DPRK and the U.S in particular, hardening the partition of the Korean Peninsula. Militarily, the Korean Peninsula is home to almost two million troops, ballistic missiles, chemical weapons and actual nuclear capabilities. Ideological, social, and economic differences are so extreme that re-unification appears very remote. While the Korean Peninsula seems ‘frozen in time’, internal changes in the North could ultimately force a fundamental transformation of the Peninsula (Pollack & Chung, 1999: 1). North Korea’s vulnerability increases as its past alliances with Russia and China diminish. “North Korea’s defining imperative is no longer to present itself as an alternative model for Korean


References: CBS5 (2007). Roh asks Bush to declare end to Korean War. CBS5 News Interactive. September 7th, 2007. Retrieved September 15th, 2007 from: <http://cbs5.com/topstories/topstories_story_250075856.html> Cumings, B. (1995). Divided Korea: United Future? Headline Series: New York. Institute for National Strategic Studies (1997). Strategic Assessment 1997. National Defence University: Washington, D.D. Lim. C-W. (2007). Leaders Break the Ice. Herald Sun. October 2nd, 2007: p. 29. Noland, M. (2000). The Economics of Korean Unification. Peterson Institute for International Economics: Washington, D.C. Pollack, J. & Chung, M. L. (1999). Preparing for Korean Unification: Scenarios and Implications. Rand: Santa Monica. Reuters, A. (2007). Toast to Summit Success. Herald Sun. October 5th, 2007: p. 35. Rhee, T. (2001). Will Korea be Unified? Korea Herald. January 30th, 2001. Retrieved August 11th, 2007 from: <http://thormay.net/koreadiary/northsouth1b.html> Shuja, S. M. (2003). Contemporary Review: Korean Re-Unification. Retrieved August 10th, 2007 from: <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_1651_283/ai_107897403> Verheven, D. (1998). The German Question: A Cultural, Historical and Geographical Exploration. Westview Press: Colorado.
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