Prepare for a peaceful unification of our land
Published: 06 Nov. 2024, 19:49
Cho Min
The author is the head of Korea Globe and former vice president of the Korea Institute for National Unification.
Pyongyang’s deployment of young soldiers as mercenaries in the Russian war with Ukraine is the latest hot-button issue related to North Korea, but we still glare at the embers from the much disputed idea of giving up the goal of reunification. We were shocked to hear former government officials publicly backing Pyongyang’s position. Last December, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un defined the two Koreas as “hostile states at war,” naming the South as the North’s perpetual enemy while renouncing the unification goal. Can the fixated two-state status quo without any premise on unification ensure permanent peace and stability?
The dismissal of unification is synonymous with the surrender of a unification based on free democracy. It would buy North Korea time to build its national power and strength. It’s no different from Pyongyang’s wishes to see commitment and resources for unification watered down in South Korea.
We can choose unification but can’t reject it. We must be mindful that unification can suddenly land on us. We need a proactive approach toward unification to ensure lasting peace in the Korean Peninsula. Unification is a “peace” revolution. A unified Korea leads to the path of regional stability and world peace. A unified peninsula will become the hub of peace, bringing together continental and maritime powers.
South Korea is the sole country among top 10 economies that never invaded another state. No other country ascended to the industrial, democratic and IT power rank over such a short period. A peaceful unification indeed can be revolutionary as 80 million Koreans can combine their power to stand at the center of the world.
Socialist states usually dissolved in three stages. The economy falls apart first, then the regime and finally the state. North Korea’s economy has been standing on the brink of a breakdown for a long time. But the dictatorship has managed to stay robust thanks to its geopolitical uniqueness and nuclear power. Still, its future including the hereditary succession is insecure, feeding skepticism about the regime’s resilience and sustainability. Unsurprisingly, the Kim regime finds the prosperous and free Korea on the other side of the border most threatening.
We must differentiate what’s propaganda and truth from what we hear from the North. Pyongyang is lying when it says it has no intention to attack the South. Peace cannot be insured without strength. Readiness must be thorough. Nuclear weapons cannot defend the Kim dynasty. The dictator can slip from the geopolitical tightrope. The concrete walls, mines and executions cannot stop the cascade of outside information and popularity of South Korean culture seeping into the North. We cannot overlook the possibility of a sudden implosion in North Korea depending on international developments.
Unification can arrive less shockingly when we are well prepared. Certain conditions and a consensus must be met. First of all, we must promise not to question the past of North Korean elites in the aftermath of unification. Except for monstrous violations of civil rights that cannot be applied with time limits, the past of the Workers’ Party, government and military elites must be overlooked under the principle of harmony and unity. The declaration of non-questioning principles can shake the fortress sustaining the elites in the North.
Second, we must pitch that unification can best benefit the people of North Korea. North Koreans have led a slave-like life and are oblivious to what free life can offer. We must help them enjoy freedom and economic life as much as possible after unification. The North Korean regions should be made a special administrative zone by nationalizing assets. Economic integration must be orderly achieved by setting specific income targets for North Korean residents.
Third, we must show collective patience and compassion. Unification will arrive faster and integration may be smoother when we yield and share more. North Koreans should be considered a boon not a burden. The 25 million population and human resources from the North will become a valuable resource to a unified Korea. We will need fewer foreign migrant workers when we employ the North Korean labor force.
We have so far prioritized keeping peace in our North Korean policy based on a first-peace, then-unification principle. But a divided peace cannot entail lasting peace, given the anti-peace nature of the Pyongyang regime.
We must look beyond a “divided peace” to ready a “unified peace” on the pillars of public support, an inter-Korean agreement on state management, and international cooperation. We must proactively embrace unification instead of being pushed into it and move toward it instead of waiting for it.
Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)