Korean Unification in the 21st Century

My friend Jason posted a great link from the BBC on the new Korean online channel dedicated to reunification. The network has been started as a response to the sheer number of young people who seem to simply not care about the north anymore. It argues that while the first two generations of the post-1953 division had real family links, the younger generation (say under 30) has virtually none that it knows about. It's an interesting situation and the BBC does a decent job of describing the channel. Officially there is one Korea, as both sides claim ownership of the whole nation. In Korea maps show one nation and no one uses the term "South Korea." Unofficially however, Koreans know that there is in effect two states and for younger people, the north seems a largely irrelevant issue.

I know in my own experiences talking with Korean friends it does seem like a distant issue. People whos great grandmothers were in Seoul and who's great uncles were in Kaesong (just across the border) were ripped apart during the war and never allowed to see each other again. I have one example of a friend whos grandmother and great aunt were on a shopping trip to Seoul (the family was from just outside of Pyeongyang). They went down for a week long summer vacation when the north invaded. While every detail wasn't shared with me, what happened was after the war they were in Daegu and although you had, in theory, 90 days to choose which side of the border to live on in reality you didn't. So after 90 days the border was shut and the girls never saw their older brother or parents again and have never even been able to find out what happened to them. That is just one of thousands of heartbreaking stories that come out of that generation. For people who lived through that time one can understand how reunification was seen as so important.

However, for their grandchildren they have, at most, aunts, uncles and cousins up in the north at this point, and most have less than that. They have also never met these relatives. I know I have cousins who I have never really met and who I might have trouble naming. For many of these people it's the same thing. The north is an annoyance and reunification a secondary problem. Since reunification will almost certainly occur as the north crumbles and is absorbed by the south it will be a major economic blow to the south (some estimates say it will cost $100 billion US to the south's economy). In a nation with an excess of university students and record high prices for food and housing (relative to the country, no Canadian would complain about what $600/m would get you here apartment wise) it's a borderline unwelcome blow that one friend says she hopes will happen when she is in her 50's and economically stable. Most young south Koreans are caught in a culture and generational gap where they are still expected to care for their parents financially and pay for their childrens education and housing through to their marriage and do this in a society that is rapidly westernizing and where this expectation is no longer a realistic one. The kids are obsessed with education and smart phones and the 20 and 30 somethings are adjusting to this cultural shift as best they can. With these circumstances you can understand why the north just isn't the issue it once was among anyone under 40.

Also there's the fact that for young Koreans, American movies and music, Japanese animation and European food have a far greater impact on their culture and daily lives than the north. While everyone seems to agree that unification should happen, the simple fact is that more Koreans visit the US, Japan, Taiwan and a host of SE Asian nations with far greater frequency than they do the north. In fact, I would argue that a young couple living in Gangnam, Seoul has far more in common with their counterparts in Los Angeles, Hong Kong or Tokyo than they do with their counterparts in Pyeongyang. Reunification would, at this point, bring two very alien groups together. Yes they have a common language and a shared history going back 1500 years that can not be easily dismissed, but the last 60 years have created two different realities. I mean, north Koreans don't even know what Starcraft is!

However, I'm glad that some people in the Korean government are still paying attention and want the new generation engaged, because whether it's a military coup, civilian food riots, a war or something else the north will collapse, and probably in my lifetime. Whether or not the two Koreas ever reunite is still unknown, but no matter what happens the south will bare the brunt of it and younger people need to be ready for that.