Reviewing the North Korean Unification Strategy and the Future of a Unified Korea.

This is the content presented at the seminar on the future of unification of the Korean Peninsula hosted by the Historical Research Association.

2022. 10. 28

Park Sang Bong(German Unification Information Research Institute, Former Unification Education Director)

I. Fate of the Divided Country: Unification, Is it inevitable or a choice?

According to surveys from various institutions such as Seoul National University’s Peace and Unification Research Institute, only 4 out of 10 citizens responded that “unification is necessary”. This statistic is indiscriminately quoted and is judged to be fueling unification avoidance theory. Unification, it would be fortunate if we could avoid and adjust it according to our will. However, just as division was irrelevant to our will, so will unification be. When the time comes, the division will end and unification will come. It is nothing but the fate of the divided country, and it is like the homing instinct of salmon(回歸本能).

Our only choice is to prepare for unification. That is, to prevent red unification and ensure that the unified homeland enjoys freedom and prosperity by preparing for all possibilities. Fortunately, we have examples of unification in Vietnam, Yemen, and Germany. We need to study and prepare for the mistakes, misjudgments, and trials and errors they made during the unification process.

Ideological War

Divided countries, whether they want to or not, wage an ideological war. The left is a pro, the right is an amateur. The left talks about 脫ideology, but their behavior is full of ideology. The slogan of the last general election, “The conservatives must be destroyed”, is full of anger towards the right. The appeasement policy towards North Korea during the 5 years of Moon Jae-in’s administration, and the 北flattery cannot be called 脫ideology. It is even more problematic to beautify Lee In-young’s “Let North Korea buy Samsung Electronics stocks” and Park Won-soon’s “We should be able to cheer for Kim Jong-un at Gwanghwamun” as inter-Korean cooperation or freedom of expression.

The right, too, failed to properly respond to the left’s 脫ideology peace offensive, and the left took the initiative in the ideological war. Pro-North and pro-North activists have been undermining the foundation of the country under the disguise of progress. In the 2016 general election, a member of the disbanded Unified Progressive Party ran as an independent in Ulsan and was elected. The reason is that the Democratic Party(represented by Moon Jae-in)withdrew the candidate, it was a collusion between progress and pro-North.

The recent revelations of the repatriation of North Korean defectors, the forced defection of a West Sea public official, North Korean coins, smuggling of North Korean paintings, and the illegal smuggling of foreign currency by Twin Bells, which ignore laws, ethics, and human rights, are clearly a challenge to the free democratic Republic of Korea. It cannot be said that it is not a disaster caused by the arrogance of the left, who has led the ideological front.

II. The fallacy of the 1country 2system

The unification plan of the Moon Jae-in government was the 1country 2system. It is based on the 2clauses that have common points between the low-level federation of the 6.15 declaration(North Korea’s) and the 2stage) national union of the South Korean National Community Unification Plan. The idea is that the South and the North exercise independent governance, diplomatic, and military authority, and that the unification issue is promoted by a separate organization.

Theoretically, it is a claim of neo-functional integration theory that trust should be built by activating non-political exchanges and cooperation such as sports, culture, and economic cooperation before political unification.

South-North Economic Cooperation, an incubator of illegal and illegal methods

In line with the 1country 2system, local governments such as Seoul City and Incheon City have pursued various North Korea support projects(North Korean airport infrastructure 44 trillion won, facility support for co-hosting the Olympics 6 trillion won, West Sea South-North Peace Road 18 trillion won, and 780 billion won for the maritime⦁aviation combined transportation terminaletc)over the past 5 years.

However, looking back, the Geumgangsan tourism project, which was a symbol of South-North economic cooperation, also failed due to North Korea’s deliberate fire play. Hyundai’s Jeong Mong-hun, who supported DJ’s reconciliation and cooperation policy through economic cooperation, died mysteriously, and Hyundai Asan went bankrupt. There are also overseas examples. Egypt’s Orascom(Chairman Sawiris)launched a mobile phone business in 2008 in a joint venture with North Korea to establish Koryolink. He invested 400 million dollars, but he couldn’t even recover his investment. This fact was revealed through a report by the German economic newspaper Handelsblatt(Handelsblatt)on October 6, 2018. Could it really have been a coincidence that the article was published right after Moon Jae-in’s visit to Pyongyang? Surprisingly, during his visit to Egypt at the end of his term, Moon Jae-in used the third trading method to