if remember Korean history before the Japanese invasion in 1900 wasnt at one time the situation reversed? the north was the built-up educated propersous area and the south basically Mississippi and Alabama mixed together ?
It wasn’t that the south was backward or less prosperous; it was simply that the north had most of Korea’s industrial base and the south had most of its agricultural base. So the two halves complemented each other.
Not sure how the article you cite really refutes the notion that for most South Koreans, North Koreans are almost foreign.
The article you cite notes that reunions are primarily for 80s-somethings and older. That’s not exactly an encouraging sign. You don’t win political points by telling senior citizens their concerns mean nothing to you and they’re a tiny overall demographic.
For millennials and younger adults (Gen Z?), there’s almost no real ties remaining. Even familial ties are more out of a sense of duty to older family in the South than a real emotional connection. Within ~20 years, there won’t be any living South Koreans who have a direct tie with people in the North, much less remember a time (as the 80s-somethings and older do having been born before the War) when there was no division into South and North. For that younger set, it’s more about satisfying/honoring their own elders than feeling a connection to the folks across the border.
Sort of. The South has always had more of the already limited arable land. Economically, the North remained ahead of the South into the 70s, which was partly due to support from the USSR as part of the Cold War. As it turns out, reliance on the USSR combined with the cult of personality they built around the Kims wasn’t a sustainable model for economic growth.
This had the effect of ruining the East German economy in general, and industry in particular, in a matter of weeks, as their currency was suddenly overvalued by something between 300% and 2,000%, depending on where you set the fair exchange rate (1:4? 1:20? there were arguments for both rates or anything in between). I am convinced that this was done on purpose, as it permitted Western firms to grab all the good bits for a song leaving the problems (pensions, salaries, debts, liabilities…) for others, mainly the West German state. The state could afford it, the East Germans taken together did not have that much Eastmark. For me it was a tipical case of the many poor transfering fortunes to the few rich. Tripple-up economics, it should be called.
Let’s wait and see whether something similar happens in Korea. That much I can say: reunification, like in Germany, will come. Nobody knows when, perhaps not in our lifetimes, perhaps in a century, but when it happens, it will be very gradual at the beginning, then very sudden. And the international constellation will have to be a very fortunate one for the process to remain peaceful.
Germany, Korea, Ireland, Dakota
The South Korean government is currently providing assistance to defectors from North Korea, and it is not an easy transition for them. Could you imagine suddenly having to make choices between ten different brands of one foodstuff - when you’ve been happy to get only state-distributed food - when it was available? And then try making similar choices for everything in your life!
And - I suspect that there would be a major culture shock for people who are currently “good citizens” of the North by continually ratting out their neighbors. Suddenly, there wouldn’t be anyone in power who CARED if their neighbors violated certain norms.
Or could protect the rats. My (possibly flawed) understanding is that a lot of East Germans who had been STASI informants had a difficult time after reunification.
(Might deserve it’s own thread…) Just in case you missed today’s news from North Korea:
“The (new) law spells out conditions where North would be inclined to use its nuclear weapons, including when it determines that its leadership is facing an imminent “nuclear or non-nuclear attack by hostile forces.” The law requires North Korea’s military to “automatically” execute nuclear strikes against enemy forces, including their “starting point of provocation and the command,” if Pyongyang’s leadership comes under attack.”
That just leads to the main page.
An automatic retaliation at the nuclear level? Wasn’t tht called the Doom Machine?
Here is a link to the specific article. And you are right - “automatic retaliation” is a threshold that should be approached VERY CAREFULLY.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/korea-give-nukes-counter-us-89567681