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Unification on the Horizon?
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When will we see unification?
1 year or less.
4%
 4%  [ 1 ]
1-2 years.
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
3-7 years.
8%
 8%  [ 2 ]
Next decade.
13%
 13%  [ 3 ]
In our life times.
56%
 56%  [ 13 ]
Never.
17%
 17%  [ 4 ]
Total Votes : 23

Author Message
matthews_world



Joined: 15 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 3:42 am    Post subject: Unification on the Horizon? Reply with quote

With the Daegu games sporting N and S Korea brotherhood and Kim Jong Il's country seeing poverty, strife, and famine, what do you think about these 6-nation talks going on? Perhaps these are a stepping stone.

Of course, we've got the nuclear issue to muddle through.

In, your opinion, when will we see unification?

I'm going optimistic with this one and saying within a year.



Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy
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Walter Mitty



Joined: 27 Mar 2003
Location: Tokyo! ^.^

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 5:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Where's the option for "I can't stop laughing at the idea long enough to vote?" Smile
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whatthefunk



Joined: 21 Apr 2003
Location: Dont have a clue

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 5:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, its hard to say. Within a year...i doubt it. The two countries obviously won't make peace, so one will have to fall. That will happen either when the North invades and kills us all, or the North collapses.
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bucheon bum



Joined: 16 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 5:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kim Jong-Il has to die first or do something really stupid like attack the South. So I'm guessing w/in our lifetimes or, if it were an option, sometime in the LONG future.
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Hoju Nick



Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Location: Standing on the outside, looking in.

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 5:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Who's next in line after KJI? I know he's the great leader and a god, but he's looking a bit like Elvis towards the end.

I wouldn't mind putting a sly $50 on him for the dead pool....would things stay the same???

I don't mean to be so ignorant, I've been switched off.
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crazylemongirl



Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 6:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

One of his sons is next in line. He hasn't decided which yet.

As for unification, since these guys have outlasted the USSR, China etc. Who knows? This state is like a c ockroach, it outlasts larger stronger beings.

CLG
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kylehawkins2000



Joined: 08 Apr 2003

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 6:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm thinking 20 years. It might seem like a long time considering the poverty within the country....but I don't see reunification happening easily....there are just way too many obstacles.

Even if the North suddenly renounced communism and decided they wanted to join their southern brethren in democracy do you think the South would immediately open up the border and say "welcome in". Well it's not so simple. The economic disparity between the North and South makes it extrememly difficult for the two countries to unite.
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Haggard



Joined: 28 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In simple terms, the South likes to talk the talk but will never walk the walk. It's a lot easier to chant "We are one" than it is to volunteer 50% of your paycheck to make it a reality.

If you think South Koreans will give up their Gucci bags and study abroad trips to subsidize a couple meals a day for their brothers up north, you're ignorant.

South Koreans aren't the least bit interested in reunification. Not only would it deprive them of their great American scapegoat, but they'd have no one to blame but themselves when they didn't become the next world superpower as many Koreans believe is their destiny.
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crazylemongirl



Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

On further reflection I don't think it's just a question of whether korea is ready for unification but also whether the rest of the world is.

Korea will require heaps of aid, because they don't have the social infrastructure to cope with an extra 20 million mouths to feed/kids to education/people to find jobs etc.

Also I worry about a united korea with a chip on its shoulder due to historical grievances.

CLG
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On the other hand



Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
The economic disparity between the North and South makes it extrememly difficult for the two countries to unite.


And, going by what we saw at the Daegu games, I'd say a good chunk of the NK population would have considerable difficulty adjusting to life in an industrialized democracy. Under current conditions, you'd likely end up with a large number of people flooding into the South who are a) economically destitute, and b) ready to attack anyone who says disparaging things about their homeland. Not a good recipe for social harmony.

I would assume that the social and economic "playing field" between the two nations would have to be levelled considerably before any reunification occurs. Could take a while.

Of course, my argument also applies to any American plans to remove the NK regime by force. How do you think those "reporters" we saw in Daegu would react to heavily-armed American imperialists marching through the streets of Pyongyang?
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Gwangjuboy



Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Location: England

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kim Jong Ill doesn't want the regime to collapse. Remember the nation has been shut off from the rest of the world for 50 years. They don't know any different from the communist propoganda machine. What would Kim Jong Ill get from reunification? He would lose all his power and massiah status. The North would love to reunify, only if it were an extension of the revolution. They would never accept reunification under capitalist principles. While China continues to prop up the regime, and the North continues in drug trafficking and arms dealing as it's primary source of income, the country will not fall. I bet that Kim Jong Ill isn't even aware of the extent of the famine. His lackeys probably dare not tell him that the revolution is failing the people outside of Pyongyang.
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indiercj



Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Haggard wrote:
In simple terms, the South likes to talk the talk but will never walk the walk. It's a lot easier to chant "We are one" than it is to volunteer 50% of your paycheck to make it a reality.

If you think South Koreans will give up their Gucci bags and study abroad trips to subsidize a couple meals a day for their brothers up north, you're ignorant.

South Koreans aren't the least bit interested in reunification. Not only would it deprive them of their great American scapegoat, but they'd have no one to blame but themselves when they didn't become the next world superpower as many Koreans believe is their destiny.


I don't get what you meant by "walk" up there, but they sure voted for it didn't they? Electing Kim and Roh?

If it really is your impression on what the majority of Koreans think about this issue, well then I would say you've stayed in KangNam area for too long.
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On the other hand



Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
don't get what you meant by "walk" up there, but they sure voted for it didn't they? Electing Kim and Roh?



Yes, they voted for Kim and Roh, both good choices in my opinion(you think the GNP would be trying to abolish the hoju system?) But voting for a candidate and his ideas is not the same thing as actually supporting ALL those ideas when it comes time to put them into practice. Let's say there was an actual binding referendum held on reunification, and during the campaign the "no" forces constantly talked about how much of a reduction in living standards the South would have to endure in order to assist the North. And its a binding referendum, which basically means vote "yes" and kiss your son's college fund good-bye. I think you'd find a lot of South Koreans giving more serious consideration to the "negatives" than they do now.

Not singling out Koreans here. Most people, especially on issues related to culture and nationalism, are more idealistic in the abstract than they are in practice.
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jvalmer



Joined: 06 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If unification occured and the economic disparity is still significant. Then I can see the South making North Korea a special zone. Where North Koreans have restricted access to exit North Korea, but South Koreans and probably foreigners having unrestricted access to the whole peninsula. This would be put in place to prevent a probable refuge flood into the South.

This also would benefit South Korean companies. Instead of setting up factories in Vietnam or India, they can just set it up in North Korea.
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On the other hand



Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue

PostPosted: Wed Aug 27, 2003 9:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Where North Koreans have restricted access to exit North Korea, but South Koreans and probably foreigners having unrestricted access to the whole peninsula


So, the North plays Palestine to the South's Israel? Yeah, that'd really sell in Pyongyang!

Quote:
This also would benefit South Korean companies. Instead of setting up factories in Vietnam or India, they can just set it up in North Korea.


Ahh, economic imperialism with a BROTHERLY face. Gotta love it!
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