A free and unified Korea

Rough road ahead to make Unification Doctrine work

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s vision for unification, the Unification Doctrine, is something that the nation has been waiting for.

In a speech marking the 79th anniversary of liberation, last Thursday, he said Korea’s independence from Japan’s 35-year colonial rule is losing its significance as the nation is still divided with the two Koreas facing off against each other.

President Yoon vowed to launch an aggressive diplomatic campaign to realize the vision of the Unification Doctrine. He noted that, just as the division of the two Koreas was the result of international power politics, unification is not something South Korea can achieve solely through its own efforts. To create an international consensus in favor of unification, he added that South Korea should prove that a unified Korea will contribute to international peace and prosperity. He made a valid point.

Regarding the unification of the two Koreas, there are many stakehol
ders, such as the U.S. and other countries sharing borders with Korea, each acting in their own interests. Winning their hearts matters. South Korea needs to convince them that a unified Korea will be a boon for them too. However, it’s a task easier said than done.

On top of international support, German unification shows us that there is one more element needed to facilitate unification: favorable geopolitical circumstances.

It’s misleading to conclude that the Berlin Wall fell suddenly. German reunification happened against the backdrop of a widespread movement that caused communist regimes across Eastern Europe to fall one after another.

The current geopolitical circumstances facing the two Koreas are quite different from those of Europe in the late 1980s.

In a time when democratic and autocratic nations are clashing and concerns grow about the potential for World War III due to escalating conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East or both, expecting a geopolitical shift in Asia similar to the changes Europ
e experienced in the 1980s is nothing more than a daydream.

Given the current volatile international circumstances, South Korea’s efforts to launch an extensive diplomatic campaign to garner global support for Korean unification are unlikely to succeed.

For now, a free and unified Korea seems unthinkable.

The Unification Doctrine is a forward-looking vision, rather than a practical roadmap to unification for the two Koreas.

President Yoon presented a free, democratic Korea as a vision for unification. This is the goal declared since the 1994 initiative, which has been South Korea’s guiding principle regarding unification.

Compared to the 1994 initiative, the Unification Doctrine is more aggressive and assertive.

The 1994 initiative advocates a gradual approach based on inter-Korean consensus to advance unification. In contrast, Yoon’s proposal emphasizes freedom and human rights as fundamental values and calls for measures that would help North Korean residents awaken, enabling an informed grassroots mo
vement to challenge the repressive regime and break free from the constraints that have held them back.

This difference between the 1994 initiative and the recent Unification Doctrine is not unusual. The 1994 vision, unveiled on Aug. 15, six weeks after the sudden death of then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, was the product of highly volatile geopolitical circumstances. At that time, North Korea was reeling from the sudden death of its leader as well as another shock: the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had been its security guarantor and provider of economic assistance.

The 1994 initiative is declarative in its nature as it made it clear that South Korea had no intention to change the status quo by force so as to prevent North Korea from miscalculating.

Now, Kim’s grandson is in power. Compared to his grandfather who was 82 in 1994, the younger Kim is inexperienced and volatile. North Korean residents are suffering the consequences of his brutal rule. Any change in North Korea – a precondition to mo
ving unification discourse forward – seems unrealistic for now.

When top-down change is unlikely to happen, there is another way to make change occur: a grassroots-driven movement. To achieve this, North Korean residents need to realize the extent of the oppressive conditions they are enduring. They also need the courage to act for their cause no matter what price is paid. The Unification Doctrine addressed a necessary and desirable goal that needs to be fulfilled. But it will be an uphill battle to make unification happen.

Source: Yonhap News Agency