The Republic of Korea (South) is a democratic state developing according to the principles of a market economy. Now the conservatives are in power, and the development of the country is generally determined by anti-communist rhetoric. The DPRK (Northern) is developing along the path of socialism and is based on the principles of its own national ideology.
Today, these are two completely different states with different destinies and cultures. Capitalist South Korea is strikingly different from North Korea, which is in almost complete isolation. Comparing the economies of North and South Korea is clearly not in favor of the latter, although the Democratic People's Republic of Korea managed to independently develop nuclear weapons, and the Americans brought them to the South.
The only thing that unites the North and the South is the people who initially did not have any cultural preconditions for separation. Today, Koreans living in the southern part of the peninsula, and those who live in the north, are two completely different nations. The people are dividednational ideologies, different state systems, although it has a common past and belongs to the same ethnic community.
The origins of the Korean conflict
On the territory of the Korean Peninsula by the middle of the 7th century there were three large countries (Baekje, Silla and Kougere) and small communities in the southeast, but even then there were prerequisites for the creation of a single state. Korean statehood is divided into three periods: Unified Silla (7th-10th centuries), the Goryeo era (10th-14th centuries) and Joseon (14th-20th centuries).
At the same time, until the end of the 19th century, the peninsula was actually dependent on China. The Korean king received the approval of the Chinese emperor. At some stage, there was a constant exchange of diplomatic missions, but Korea paid tribute to China. After the war between China and Japan, the political situation changed dramatically. China actually lost control over the Korean Peninsula, and Korea became an absolute monarchy that pursued a strict isolationist policy.
By 1910, Japan, interested in the geographical position of Korea, which allowed moving to the continent, integrated into the economy and began to exert significant influence on the country. The Korean intelligentsia then developed a concept encouraging Japanese colonialism. In parallel with this, the left national liberation movement began to develop. This created the prerequisites for an ideological division.
In August 1945, the Korean Peninsula was liberated simultaneously from two sides: the United States in the south and the USSR innorth. After the victory over Japan, a communist government headed by Kim Il Sung came to power in the northern part of the peninsula, and a capitalist government headed by Syngman Rhee came to power in the south. The unification of North and South Korea was originally planned, but the troops were withdrawn, and the United States and the USSR did not agree on the terms of unification. The exact date is still being pushed back to this day, and the contradictions are only growing.
Exacerbation of relations between Koreas
The political conflict between North and South Korea was heating up. In 1950, Kim Il Sung convinced Stalin that Korea should be united by force, believing that the citizens would support the overthrow of the capitalist government. Already three days after the start of the Korean War, Seoul was captured, but the local population was in no hurry to support the communists. But South Korea, which was defending the last bridgehead, was supported by the United States and many other states by sending military assistance.
In this situation, the DPRK has no chance. China sent several hundred thousand volunteers, and the Soviet Union did not intervene in the conflict, sending only a few military advisers to Pyongyang. The fighting reached a stalemate as early as 1951, but a formal peace was concluded only in 1953. In 1954, a peace conference was held in Geneva, at which representatives of the North and South failed to reach an agreement.
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul
Today the main problem of the peninsula is nuclear weapons. The United States placed weapons in South Korea as early as 1958, whichcontrary to the Armistice Treaty. North Korea lost the support of the USSR, but by the beginning of the 90s it had developed its own nuclear weapons, which gave security guarantees against US aggression. Nuclear tests are regularly conducted in the DPRK, and the United States “records activity.”
38th parallel, along which Pyongyang and Seoul are separated, is a green line with a demilitarized zone 4 km wide. It is almost impossible to cross the border, and there are no official diplomatic relations between the states. The countries are actually in a state of war, but they are beginning to look for common ground. This issue is extremely important, because not only national security, but also the stability of the entire region depends on its solution.
Meeting of North Korean and South Korean leaders
In 2018, a summit of leaders of the two states was held in the zone separating North and South Korea. The heads of the DPRK and South Korea have not had contacts since 2007, and for Kim Jong-un, this was the first meeting of this kind. More than half a century after the end of the war, Pyongyang and Seoul expressed their intention to make peace. The meeting was called a diplomatic breakthrough. The unification of Korea is not ruled out, but political scientists believe that real progress on this issue is impossible without the participation of the United States.
Phased confederation
At this stage, the South and the North have agreed to take active joint actions on the issue of disarmament (we are talking primarily about nuclear weapons) of the Korean Peninsula. This presupposes the complete and mutual cessation of hostile actions, the eliminationall propaganda tools in the vicinity of the demilitarized zone and the connection of families separated by the border. Kim Jong-un noted that in the future it is possible to unite the two Koreas into a single state.
Political experts note that the meeting was held in a warm atmosphere of mutual sympathy. During the welcoming ceremony, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un crossed the border for the first time. He took a step towards his interlocutor, South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Official photos were taken already in South Korean territory. The politicians exchanged a long handshake. The journalists calculated that it lasted 30 seconds.
Establishment of economic ties
The meeting of the presidents of South and North Korea means that the parties are making conciliatory contacts in terms of establishing economic ties. For example, Moon Jae-in suggested to Kim Jong-un that the railway systems be connected. The proposal was included in the final text of the joint declaration. In the future, the network may be connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway, which would allow transportation between the Korean Peninsula and Europe through Russia.
If the dialogue continues, then the Russian side may take part in the issues of economic development of countries. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, speaking at the 8th Asian Conference of the Valdai Club, said that only the tense political situation hinders participation in the project for the construction of the trans-Korean gas pipeline. South Korean company Kogas and Russian Gazpromdiscussed the laying of the highway back in 2011, then negotiations with the DPRK sewed up a dead end.
International Response
Possible unification of Korea was received with enthusiasm by the whole world. The majority of international observers expressed a justified hope for an early stabilization of the situation in the region. The United States stated that it supports the dialogue between North and South Korea, and the official statement of the Chinese Foreign Ministry noted that the countries belong to one people, the association reflects the interests of all citizens and the region as a whole, which is also in line with international interests.
Merger or takeover of North Korea
In practice, the unification of Korea is complicated by the fact that there are legal obstacles to peace. Therefore, do not rush to final conclusions. For example, for South Korea, unification means absorbing North Korea. The United States of America can play a very big role, because this side has serious leverage on Seoul.
Will the joint statements of the leaders of South Korea and the DPRK be implemented? Will Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in meet each other halfway, will they be able to agree? Political analysts believe that the situation will clear up within a few months. The personal factor also contributes to this. Now North Korea is led by a young leader who understands the need for change. In the South, last year, a left-liberal politician minded to dialogue came to power.
Conflict between the DPRK and the US
It is clear that the unification of Korea is possible only "with the permission" of the United States. Kim Jong Un threatened the UStest of a hydrogen bomb, two ballistic missiles have already been launched, which theoretically could reach the North American mainland. All this does not contribute to the establishment of stability. But the conflict between Koreas itself concerns not only these states.
The United States has been threatening North Korea with a nuclear strike for many years if Pyongyang decides to attack South Korea. The American government has officially stated several times that in this case it considers it expedient to use nuclear weapons. If hostilities really begin, then Japan, Australia, Taiwan and China will intervene in the conflict. The latter, for example, supports the regime in the DPRK in order to keep Americans away from their own border.
Grounds for pessimism
Optimism about the summit is moderated by a realistic assessment of the expected results of cooperation between the leaders of the two warring states. The talks were only a launching pad, a starting point on the path to the unification of Korea, and not a final and irrevocable decision. Before the last negotiations (in 2000 and 2007), many were also optimistic, but the process was then disrupted.
A lot can go wrong. Kim Jong Un knows what happened to other dictators (Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi in Libya) after they ended their nuclear programs. There is concern about US threats against which North Korea may simply refuse to make itself vulnerable. It is also unknown how, under pressure from the United States,himself Moon Jae In. Only time will tell the real results of the inter-Korean summit.
