golden palasyo Fading Dream Of A United Korea
Updated:2025-01-08 06:01 Views:162
North Korean and South Korean Flags Photo: Getty Images North Korean and South Korean Flags Photo: Getty Images
In the first week of December 2024, in roughly three hours, South Korean Democracy overcame an unprecedented political crisis. Around 10 pm on December 3, President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial lawgolden palasyo, citing parliamentary gridlock and politically motivated investigations into his administration.
The announcement surprised South Korean citizens as there was no widespread violence or imminent threat to public safety. They decided to act. By 1 am, Yoon’s attempted power grab had been thwarted by legislators. But what truly represents the strength of democracy is how rapidly South Koreans mobilised to save the democracy, even in the middle of the night.
The response to the martial law highlights the deep, unshakeable roots of democracy in South Korea, according to Abhishek Sharma, Research Assistant at Observer Research Foundation. “The reaction to the martial law emphasised how deep the roots of democratic culture seep into South Korean society. It has highlighted the importance of having a democratic-liberal state that respects the political and social rights in the eyes of Korean citizens,” said Sharma.
However, as the world watched South Korea block an authoritarian power grab and uphold its democracy surrounded by music and the freedom of expression, we are reminded of its polar opposite and estranged neighbour–North Korea.
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The Korean peninsula was a unified state for centuries. Despite being under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, Korea remained a unified peninsula and fought back as the “tiger” we often see in minhwa and nationalist poems.
However, the events of World War 2 in 1945 led to the division of the peninsula based on occupation zones held by the Soviet Union and the US. Ultimately, it would be this proxy war between the USSR and the United States which would result in the Korean War, formalising the split of the two states.
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Since then, North and South Korea have functioned as separate states with its people divided across the 38th Parallel and continue to be at truce. Despite several hostilities, the two states have worked, time and again, towards the reunification of the Korean peninsula.
However, 2023 onwards, tensions between North and South Korea escalated and reached a new height this year. From trash balloons crossing over into Seoul to the scrapping of the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration—adopted between North Korea's Kim Jong-un and South Korea’s Moon Jae-in wherein both leaders agreed to cooperate on officially ending the Korean War—the path towards reunification seems narrow. The dream of ‘One Korea’ moves farther away.
With Yoon’s declaration of martial law, the road towards reunification, at least politically, has been impacted. However, as per Sharma, the impact is contrary to most people's viewpoint regarding unification.
“Unification is seen, in large quarters in South Korea, as something that will cause South Korean citizens a lot of economic pain and political instability,” says Sharma. He added that the idea of unification remains unpopular in the South, particularly with the younger demographics.
However, on the other hand, North Koreans still believe in the idea of unification and the need to overthrow the Kim Jong Un regime. As per Liberty of North Korea (LiNK), an international NGO which works to establish a free Pyongyang, North Koreans are taking matters into their own hands and have started to mobilise at the grassroots level.
Since 1953, thousands of North Koreans have escaped past the tight borders of the country and lived lives as immigrants, before finally defecting to South Korea. Grace Kang is one such person.
Kang defected to South Korea with her mother and grandmother after surviving the great famine of the 1990s. Before her move to Seoul, Kang and her mother lived in China as illegal immigrants and walked on eggshells due to the fear of being deported and forced into a prison camp.
Years later, she found her way to South Korea and eventually became a citizen of ROK. As she goes on, Kang can’t help but reminisce on her days in the North surrounded by her family and wishes for freedom for the millions of people in North Korea.
Young North Koreans whose parents defected to South Korea continue remain hopeful towards unification. Speaking to LiNK, Han believes there needs to be a change in the perspective of the North Korean people.
As per Han, who first escaped to China in 2015 and then resettled to the South, North Korean people “have the ability to care and commit to helping others,” and for the same reason, she believes a change of perspective is needed.
Kang also believes if North Koreans come together, change would be inevitable. Recalling her time in Saetbyul, Kang told LiNK how her family and their neighbours would gather to watch foreign news, movies and more in one house. Watching foreign media in North Korea is a punishable offence, but “if we watch it together, no one gets caught because no one is there to turn you in.”
However, North Koreans, at least those who defected, continue to push for the world to tap in and help free its population of 25 million.
“North Koreans inside the country need to do their part for sure, but they will also need a lot of help from the outside. This help could be sending in movies, K-dramas or news to North Korea or defectors sharing their stories,” says Nicky, who escaped with her parents when she was just 10.
South Koreans, on the other hand, particularly the younger generation, seem to be closed to the idea of unification. Many North Koreans who defected to the South have revealed they often have to conceal their identity due to fears of being bullied and harassed.
Over in the South, a survey conducted in 2023 shows that around 44 per cent of the South Korean public believe that unification is necessary while 29 per cent believed it was not.
As compared to the opinion in 2019, where 53.6 per cent thought unification was necessary, the number of people who believe in necessary unification of the two Koreas has reduced.
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As South Korea continues to work towards safeguarding its democratic society, North Korea continues to remain isolated. Since the coming of Yoon’s conservative government in 2022, tensions between the two Koreas deteriorated and reached an all-time low.
With Yoon’s impeachment, Sharma says, a change in leadership may restart the unification chapter for Korea. However, it will be tough for Kim Jong Un to support the idea, especially after he removed all reunification symbols and memories from North Korean discourse.
“Destroying the arc of reunification and erasing unification from the education curriculum signalled that he is no longer interested in the reunification agenda, which was the dream of his father and grandfather. After this U-turn, it will be very difficult for Kim Jong Un to return to his earlier position,” says Sharma.
He added that the geopolitical influence of China, Russia and the United States, and the concept of nuclearisation will prove to be problems for Korea. However, the main obstacle for ‘One Korea’ remains the ideological clash between the North and the South.
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“On the one hand, South Korean ideology gives primacy to its political system that propagates democracy, liberalism and capitalism, which is not acceptable to the North Korean regime as these are seen as a threat to them. On the other hand, North Korean ideology gives primacy to the continuation of its regime, with no compromise on issues of human and political rights to its citizens, which goes against South Korea’s democratic outlook,” says Sharma.
For Korea to be whole againgolden palasyo, it is necessary that both sides reach a point that both sides do not feel that they have lost their interstate. And until this compromise is achieved, the dream of One Korea will remain a distant reality.
