English

Reunification: The difference perspectives of

North and South Korea:

An Annotated Bibliography

Cha Victor. “Five Theories of Korean Unification.” The Journal of the Center for Strategic & International studies, 20 June 2016. Web. 24 Oct. 2017.

According to this article, North and South’s reunification is impossible because each Korea has grown and changed in political and sociological, and economic aspects in the last 70 years. It would be hard to alleviate the economic bipolarization between North and South Korea that occurred due to these changes. The final reason is that Korea’s reunification is not only North and South Korea’s issue. Many countries that are involved with the two Koreas would not support the reunification politically or economically. Kim’s article supports this article by explaining why reunification is impossible economically. Cha’s viewpoint that reunification would only cause disadvantages is shared by Kim, Mckenna, and Liston.

“Division between North and South Korea explained.” BBC, 11 May 2016. Web. 25 Oct 2017.

Korea became independent from Japan after Japan was defeated in World War II. But since independence, Korea has been separated into North and South. The Northern section was occupied by the Soviets and the U.S. occupied the southern section. Since the occupying countries had distinct ideologies, North and South Korea were impacted differently. After the soviets and the Americans left the peninsula, North Korea set up its own dynasty and South Korea constructed its own democratic government. The division between the two Koreas is ongoing. This article focuses on the differences between North and South Korea of ideology by “'Juche(Self-Reliance)' Ideology” and "Government of South Korea" articles.

"Government of South Korea." New World Encyclopedia. 8 Jul 2017. Web. 6 Nov 2017.

South Korea is a democratic country and people choose the president through an election process. The person who is elected stays in office for 5 years. Also, the South Korean government is divided into many departments. There is a chair for each department. Unlike North Korea, the president does not have absolute power over these departments and the legislation for these departments is created by Congress. The South Korea’s National Assembly has privileges to start the impeachment process for the president, any member of his/her administration, or any member of a government department. This is also connected to the difference of North and South Korea’s ideology by Cha and “Juche Ideology”.

Ji Eun, Seo. “Unification may be jackpot: Park.” KOREA JOONGANG DAILY. 7 Jan 2014. Web. 7 Nov 2017.

South Korea not only has working towards a reunification with North Korea in the future but they are also trying to have an amicable relationship with North Korea. The South Korean president said “Reunification is a jackpot.” in her first speech. She explained that she understood what people fear about reunification. However, she further explained that reunification would improve the South Korean economy and a united Korea would be a strong country both economically and politically. This article is related to my research and Snyder’s article because it explains the possibility of reunification.

“'Juche(Self-Reliance)' Ideology.” KBS WORLD Radio, 2016. Web. 5 Nov 2017.

The North Korean government is a dictatorship under the ‘Juche’ idea. Il Sung Kim the founder of the Kim Dynasty in North Korea, created an ideology called, “Juche.” This ideology reflected his desire and determination to form a dynastic succession. Kim’s ideology became cemented in as the North Korean’s governmental framework after there was an attempt by members of his government to modify this ideology in 1955. Jong Il Kim, the son of the founder, interpreted, the “Juche” idea to mean; Strong Fatherland, Red Knight Thought, and Military First in addition to the ideology of dynastic succession. This article explains the government ideology of North Korea which underlines the impossibility of reunification. It also provides a contrast with “Government of South Korea.” article.

Kim, Clare. “Unification of North and South Korea.” Grieboski Global Strategies, 7 July 2014. Web. 24 Oct 2017.

The combination of South Korea’s advanced technology and North Korea’s abundance of natural resources would make them strong, but there are reasons why South Korean doesn’t agree with reunification. Despite the gain of natural resources, South Korea would have to pay for reunification and it lacks the advantages of unification compared to cost. This would also cause a large drop in the GDP for a long time. The case of two Koreas cannot be compared two unification of two Germanies. This source also supports the impossible of reunification.

Liston, Enjoli. “North and South Korea: can Seoul’s plans for reunification work?” the guardian. 18 July 2014. Web. 7 Nov 2017.

Although the older generation remembers what happened in the past between North and South Korea, younger generation, like twenty somethings, do not have these memories. The younger generation does not want reunification, not due to old and painful memories, but because of a fear that reunification would cause extreme confusion and general disorientation. Additionally, they think that in order to unify the Koreas, they will have to sacrifice their own finance well being. According to research by Seoul national university, 22% of young South Koreans want to reunify, 27% think of North Korea as a neighbor, and 28% of the students said they feel North Korea is an enemy. But, the South Korean government has started trying to persuade young South Koreans through a campaign that reunification will bring them economic and political advantages as well as being as act of humanitarianism. This is important to my research because it shows the difficulties of reunification also which are related by Cha, Kim, and Mckenna.

Mckenna, Katie. “North Korea, South Korea: Economic Snapshot.” Fox News Research, 28 April 2017. Web. 25 Oct 2017.

North Korea’s GDP is the lowest in the world and North Korean economy depends on China. They rank 180th out of 193 countries which assumes that more than half of its population is in severe poverty. On the other hand, South Korea’s economy is the 11th largest in the world. The amount of South Korea’s exports and imports are almost the same as the GDP. South Korea ranks 5th in the world in exporting goods and services. Kim and Cha’s declarations that reunification is impossible are supported by the statistics in this article.

Snyder, Scott. “What comes after Korean Unification.” Forbes, 21 Dec 2015. Web. 25 Oct 2017.

If North and South Korea reunifies, there are various scenarios not only for North and South Korea but also for the U.S. and China. First possibility is that Korea might keep its alliance with the U.S. The second possibility is that a united Korea might become independent from both the U.S. and China. Another possibility is that a united Korea might form an alliance with China. This article is helpful in showing both sides of the reunification viewpoint.

“What North and South Korea would gain if they were reunified.” The Economist, 5 May 2016. Web. 25 Oct 2017.

This article talks about the benefits of reunification. Korea’s population would increase because North Korea has a large number of young people and twice many babies as South Korea. It would make Korea’s working-age population increase sharply. Also, North Korea’s army is the fourth-largest in the world, so Korea’s military power would be stronger than after reunification. There are lots of minerals in North Korea which are valued at $10 trillion, so a united Korea’s resource would grow tremendously. This article corresponds with the article by Snyder. This is also consistent with Seo’s article about the advantages of reunification.

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