Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bignate]

I am sure that the Korean People will welcome the IMF and the World Bank with open arms, since they did such a great job in their bailout scheme in 1997 .

http://www.kimsoft.com/1997/sk-imfc.htm
http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/stop-imf/2000q4/000301.html
http://www.jubileesouth.org/news/EpFZVAlAylmcvijFqt.shtml

[bucheon bum]

[stalinsdad]

I talked about this in class and really they have little or no idea of the upheaval it will cause. Sickboy is right in assuming that the cost of reunification is a massive one. Then there are the political problems, if we look at the unification of Scotland with England, which was forced initialy, it's clear that force is the quickest way for unification, however with the north having nuclear missiles that's out of the question. The only real way of unification is for America, Japan and South Korea to build up the North's economic structures and so making it more viable to reunify , it seems a catch 22 position.

[Gord]

[bucheon bum]

[VanIslander]

My adult students say re-unification with the north is inevitable but that the process cannot move forward until the American military is out of the south.

They also say the north has always been jealous of the power and wealth of the south through times of common rule and in times of hunger. They say regional differences are only overcome in the efforts to maintain their common language and culture in defense against outsiders.

I say Vietnam is similar. The north and south have perpetually been in conflict. Only a common defense against outsiders, colonial efforts at encouraging linguistic nationalism and the spread of communism have tried to unify them.

Is German unification incomplete without Austria in the fold? That's a live, open question.

Maybe the issue of whether Korea should be unified could be too, especially with the million-plus Koreans in the nearby Manchurian provinces.

[Ilsanman]

I think many people support reunification because they think it will end conscription. They don't see the bad stuff that it will bring too. In the long run, it will make Korea more powerful, but that long run might be a long long ways away.

One boy in my class last week said the worst place in the world to go is North Korea. I asked him why. He said "Many geoji (beggars) and many dirty people.' I couldn't help but laugh.

[tokki]

Austria shares a language with Germany. Beyond that though Austria has a loooong history as Austria, it has a very distinct culture too. Dont overestimate the significance of language. Polish and Slovak are extremely similar, yet there is no one claiming that there needs to be a unification between the two countries.

Go to Vienna, it towers over any German city you can name in terms of culture, aesthetics, etc. Vienna would be out of place in a german controlled state.

[Ya-ta Boy]

>>My adult students say re-unification with the north is inevitable but that the process cannot move forward until the American military is out of the south. <<

That's just what the North has always said, too. It makes me wonder just how much of what we hear is indirectly from the North.

When I hear Koreans say that unification is inevitable, I am reminded of something I read in "Korea and the World: Beyond the Cold War" edited by Young Whan Kihl, Westview Press, 1994:

(p. 23-24)
"Chronologically, the rise and fall of the Korean states parallel the experience of the Chinese state. To show it in tabular form:

In Korea In China
the rise of Unified Shilla (668) the rise of T'ang (618)
the rise of Koryo (936)* the rise of Liao (947), Sung(960)
the rise of Chosun (1392) the rise of Ming (1368)
the rise of ROK and DPRK (1948) the rise of PRC (1949)

the fall of Unified Silla (935)* the fall of T'ang (907)
the fall of Koryo (1392) the fall of Yuan (1368)
the fall of Chosun (1910) the fall of Ch'ing (1912)
the fall of Japanese rule (1945) the fall of ROC (1948)

With the possible exception of the events in the midtenth century (marked by asterisks in the table), one can readily find a causal linkage between Korean and Chinese developments...To borrow a Chinese expression, the relationship between Korea and China has been that of "lips and teeth"--of interdependence.
The Sino-Korean relationship, however, has not been one of equals; China has seized the initiative and projected its influence on Korea."

I think this is food for thought.

In a way, the Koreans may be right. China would not allow reunification by force (by the South) in 1950 and will not today. As China increases in power, the likelihood of reunification recedes unless it is on China's terms. So the presence of US troops may be what is preventing it, but not in the way the Koreans seem to think.

[Tiger Beer]

[rapier]

Van islander has a valid point. North and south have historically been feuding, long before the Korean war. I read in "The aquariums of Pyongyang" that northerners always possessed a different character and outlook to southerners.
Northerners see themselves as tougher, more friendly and warm than southerners. They always resented the wealth of the south, and had a deep mistrust of "sly and underhand" southerners. Historically, northerners made the hardiest soldiers and sportsmen, yet southerners held all the political and economic power, exploiting and manipulating the poorer north.
Its a bit like the north-south divide in England or Italy.
If reunification was too occur, I'd expect wealthy southern businessmen to carve up the territory overnight and make full use of the desperate and cheap labor force.
In one way, I dislike the idea of reunification,- as the north would rapidly become concreted over with ugly construction, and the environment ruined, just like the polluted, never-ending urban conurbation that South Korea is now. I can't believe that Seoul would agree to preserving the untouched wilderness paradise of the DMZ, for example:)

[jaebea]

A lot of young people I've talked to support re-unification because then it'd give an indirect means for Korea to become a nuclear power.

If NK has the nukes, and then NK/SK re-unite, all of a sudden, those nukes become SK's nukes. Thus they don't need the US looking "after" SK anymore, they can stand in their own right, against China, and against the pissy Japanese who can only stand by helplessly.

Oh how sweet that would be.

So the theory goes. I don't really like this idea at all, as its motivated by the simplest of human desires, the want to dominate over others. So very flawed.. :)

jae.

[HardyandTiny]

Money is the catalyst.
There is only one way for the South Korean manufacturer to keep his costs down and remain competitive with Chinese manufacturers. The South Korean must ask the North Korean for a relationship which allows the North Korean to have a "production" and the South Korean to make money.
This is already happening. South Korean companies are producing textiles in North Korea. There is no need for unification. Eventually North Korea will open up simply as North Korea, the new tiger! Just like South Korea once was.
What is the argument once North Korea becomes an open market?
Vietnam is a communist state. And so?

[rapier]

H & T: i see it the same as you...i don't see reunification as a costly disaster for SK. More of a money spinning opportunity. Cheap labour force. Land trade route to China, giving hope to Seoul's hub of Asia/ Incheon port dreams.

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

I agree with tigerbeer, there will be no unification without war. The North will never willing give up power, and of course the South fully expects to control things under unification.

If unification is to happen without war, I see it at least 50 years away.