One Influences The Other

In reading the article The Unending Korean War: A Conversation With Kim Dong-Choon I became made more aware of how...interconnected, for lack of a better word, North and South Korea are to each other. The situation is similar to the two sides of the same coin theory. Kim Dong-Choon comments on this, in how South Korea's "hostile and aggressive policy" toward North Korea made North Korea have an equally "aggressive and belligerence stance" to South Korea. Yet, when South Korea was more open toward North Korea, then North Korea wasn't as hostile to South Korea. This back and forth relationship stems from the problem that South and North Korea were part of the same county, but were split by warfare, different political views and backings.

The Korean War created an unwinnable situation by either side. The governments of both largely refused to cooperate with the other. Civilians who questioned the governments on their methods were labeled as "pro-North Korean" or "pro-South Korean." To question was view as near heresy. The South Korean "ruling bloc" as Kim Dong-Choon calls them, used the external threat of North Korean invasion to maintain its brutal ruling position. Because of this need to rule through fear, South Korea often used state violence, military coups, and the massacring of civilians to maintain power. North Korea by contrast appeared to be able to rule its people without the use of fear, or merciless suppressant, despite it being painted by South Korea and America as a brutal and harsh government.

Something else I found to be interesting in the article was Christine Hong's question to Kim Dong-Choon about America being the party of forgetting in South Korea. Kim Dong-Choon answer to this question was an oddity. To actively "forget" South Korea had to be, in essence, the party of memory. South Korea had to keep the memory of who, and what they fought, alive to be able to be a part of the "party of forgetting." South Korea had to keep the memory of an inhuman foe, and the signification of the "enemy" alive. In this way South Korea could "forget" the violent anti-communist activities that happened "before, during, and after the Korean War." Keeping this memory of the "enemy" alive enabled South Korea to rule with such a hard hand, by keeping the civilian populace in constant fear of the invading North Koreans. Kim Dong-Choon points out that following the 1990s election of civilian governments, South Korea has begun to recognize that an attack by North Korea is actually quite small.

The reunification of North and South Kora will not be an easy thing. Neither government really trusts the other, especially so long as America holds a military presence in South Korea. Yet, the similarities between the two nations are undeniable, because they are one and the same. The biggest difference, is the politics. If the politics can be worked out, then reunification is possible. Families which have for generations been divided might be able to freely see each other again. Should America continue to aid in holding these two nations apart, or simply let them rejoin of their own accord?