Sometime in June of this year, Kim Dae Jung and Kim
Jong Il will meet for the first time. They are complete strangers to
each other, although both consider themselves Korean. An unstable
armistice holds millions of soldiers deployed througout the Korean
peninsula in a permanent state of war, pitting three armies against
each other across a no man's land of barbed wire, tunnels, and
placards. Generations of Koreans on both sides of the Demilitarized
Zone (DMZ) have only known war, yet a delusion even more insane than
the actions of Kim Jong Il grips both countries, the Republic of
Korea (ROK) and the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (DPRK), in
its narcotic sway: unification.
World history is littered with the dreams of
aggrieved peoples. Zionism is even a philosophy. But Simon Bolivar ,
the latin George Washington, dreamed of a South American empire, and
the Communists in China seek legitimacy for their brutality by
uniting the Peoples' Republic with Hong Kong, Macau, and the
Republic of China (ROC). Serbs, Albanians, and Croats all want to
unify the same piece of land, only without any other group getting
in the way. African borders are now so disputed, it is a continent
only in geographical terms, and "Africa" is a hollow word. Kurds,
Armenians, Tajiks, Basques, and Irish flout geography and borders
with romantic disregard. And, the dream of Islamic solidarity still
enthralls the young, whether they be Shiite or Sunnite, or just
anti-Hindu. "Korea" is just one more romantic nightmare, produced
from the tortured souls of another aggrieved group doomed to live in
a dangerous place.
I read a story, published in 1932, by Kim Dong In
entitled, "Bare Hills" (Korean Short Stories, trans. by Hong
Myoung-Hee, 1975). It is a Korean physician's fictional memoir of a
Korean farming village called Xx-chon, located in Manchuria
(currently the PRC), and aKorean outcast named Chang Ik Ho. Xx-chon
is a spot of; korean-ness in the Manchurian hinterland, and is
brutally ruled by a warlord.Chang Ik Ho, nicknamed "Sark" (wildcat),
is an itinerant rogue, who repays the hospitality of his fellow
Korean guests with curses,drunkenness, rape, and brawling. He
contributes no labor, and has to be guarded by male field workers
when the rest of the villagers are working in the fields. Still, the
villagers tolerate Sark. When another male fieldhand is tortured by
the warlord's thugs, Sark, in righteous indignation, seeks a brawl
with the thugs. Sark is mortally wounded, and, in death, is honored
by the villagers for his patriotic valor.
The same illogical impracticality is present in
discussions of Korean unification. The Korean peninsula has been a
political multiverse longer than it has been a unified entity.
Regional differences are so pronounced, that Koreans still aggregate
around regional axes, rather than ideological platforms. But the
delusion goes beyond regional myopia, and extends into dangerous and
criminal nightmares. Not only are many Korean nations more practical
for Koreans, but Northeast Asian regional stability is facilitated.
And, last, it is better for the citizens of the DPRK.
In the wake of the recent economic recession, there
was much discussion of; the Asian model of capitalism. Particularly,
both apologists and critics waged a battle over the utility of;
Confucian values. Apologists argued that, the values of family and
friendship gave business relations a moral; resilience, because the
individual sacrificed for the good of the family. Critics saw this
as a clever justification forcorruption and nepotism. Both miss the
point. It is not the economic value of Confucianism alone that is
important, but, rather, its relationship with the political sphere.
If there are not mature democratic institutions, like an independent
judiciary and a viable electoral system, the corporate sector will
establish an almost fascist infrastructure. Therefore, if the DPRK,
as well as, say, Kyongsangnam-do,retain political sovereignty, if
proper, viable political structures are in place, Koreans can keep
their family-run corporations. Because these enterprises often
retain a local flavor, it seems unlikely, that one large
nation-state will form. The DPRK may even split into more
manageable, provincial sovereign states.
Because of the limitations of Confucian-run
corporations, it is better that the chaebol be reduced in size, by
selling their finance subsidiaries. Also, they should not be allowed
into the DPRK market, as a prelude to unification or ever, until
they have eliminated debt and excess subsidiaries. The DPRK market
is just too tempting an opportunity for a bankrupt enterprise to
recoup losses. A captive capital and labor market, especially if
non-Korean firms are barred entry, and; non-transparent bookkeeping,
is a repeat of the Japanese occupation in 1910. The citizens of the
DPRK deserve to be welcomed into the world by technically astute and
liberal firms, not corrupt, insolvent,; and zenophobic
"cousins".
Last, regional peace may be better served by at
least two Korean nations. Like Yugoslavia before the Serbian
offensive, multiple Korean nations may act centipetally to channel
hostile, military intentions and maintain peace. One unified nation
may cause the nascent Korean statelet to defensively militarize,
thus provoking China or Japan to pre-emptively neutralize and
colonize the peninsula again.
The dream of a unified Korea is like Sark: a
dangerous fiction. There is no reason for Korea to be one nation,
and many more reasons to leave it as two, at least. Unification
gives too many opportunities for corruption to continue, political
institutions to remain immature, and invasion and colonization to
recur. The two Kims can make peace, but there should be no
assistance given to the DPRK, until its leadership surrenders to a
United Nations Human Rights tribunal for indictment and trial. When
he is executed, Kim Jong Il's body should be viewed in Pyongyang, so
that the North Korean people realize, they were not abandoned by the
world. Then, the DPRK can rebuild under United Nations auspices, and
the ROK can continue to liberalize its economy without the financial
burden of Korean unification. After a century of occupation, war,
forced industrialization and collectivization, man-made famine,
coups, massacres, natural disasters, and isolation, the two Koreas
can finally join the normal world.
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