South Korea Seeks Dialogue, Unification with North Korea
South Korea Seeks Dialogue, Unification with North Korea
The Facts
In a speech on Thursday to mark the end of Japanese rule over the Korean peninsula, South Korean Pres. Yoon Suk Yeol called for a working-level dialogue consultative body to ease tensions with North Korea.
In his speech, Yoon outlined his "freedom-based unification" vision with North Korea and said he would begin political and economic cooperation if Pyongyang "takes just one step" toward denuclearization.
The Spin
Yoon proposes unification by absorption, not by uniting two equals. His "vision" primarily focuses on challenging and inducing change within the Kim Jong Un regime and influencing North Koreans. It's a plot to consolidate his pro-Japan, pro-US, ultra-right forces and instigate war with Pyongyang.
North Korea insults Yoon and threatens to annihilate South Korea. Yet, the South Korean president is reaching out to his neighbor to promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges to create a free and unified Korean Peninsula, which would ultimately end the North Koreans' misery and despair of the North Korean people.
Yoon's offer isn't feasible under current realities. Locked in acute confrontation, liberal South Korea and totalitarian North Korea don't share the same culture, language, identity, and history — preconditions for reunification. Seoul and Pyongyang would be better off peacefully coexisting as separate political entities.
