THE PROSPECTS FOR PEACE AND HARMONY
ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA

YOUNG-KEY KIM-RENAUD

Can the first signs of rapprochement translate into full reunification?

Growing up in South Korea in a home that welcomed visitors, I often met people from different parts of the world. However, one area which was completely outside the realm of my existence was the Middle East, an area East Asians referred to for centuries as the “West.” I often wondered what might lie at the mysterious other end of the Silk Road, that legendary link between East and West. And I looked forward to the day when I could travel at least a part of that road.

An opportunity to discover that part of the world arose in 1994, when I responded to a call for applications for a Fulbright fellowship to study Islamic civilization in Jordan. Thus, I was fortunate to join a group of 12 professors with totally different backgrounds and interests from across the United States to spend a summer together discovering Jordan and the world of Islam. We met leaders of every major organization in the country, from the prime minister to key ministers; executives from the public and private sectors; and leaders of different political groups, educators, social workers, artists and scholars, many of whom were women. We also enjoyed talking to students and vendors at the souk,or local market, and visiting homes of newly made friends.

Seeing these people’s daily lives in context allowed us to realize that Jordanians, most of whom are Muslims, are multifaceted people with unique adaptations to their specific conditions of life. Like all of us, they possess both universal and culture-specific characteristics. Most important, perhaps, we learned about the great diversity within Islamic culture and civilization. What had been only an abstraction became concrete, and also very personal. From that summer on, I have never been able to detach myself from what is happening in the Middle East.

During this 1994 visit to the Middle East, new hope for true peace was in the air, as the Israeli and Palestinian leaders began their dialogue to seek reconciliation and tranquil coexistence. On the Korean peninsula, in contrast, there were pressing new questions about the fragile political status quo, following the death of North Korean leader Kim Il Sung in July 1994. For me, personally, it was impossible not to feel sadness at the lack of peace initiatives on the Korean peninsula at the time.

As a Korean-American, I cannot help but compare the constant peace initiatives being undertaken in the volatile Middle East with the worrisome developments on the Korean peninsula. Like the Middle East, this peninsula is a major strategic zone. It is one of the last places on earth today in which radically disparate ideological and economic powers still confront each other. During a brief stopover in Jericho, I was deeply moved by the hope the Palestinian people were manifesting at that time, in anticipation of Chairman Arafat’s imminent arrival. In spite of the wretched condition they seemed to be in, I wished that the same kind of optimism and anticipation existed within the psyche of the Korean people on either side of the national divide.

Another parallel was clearly noticeable. Transjordan is the Arab world’s best-kept secret. The tangible reminders of the ancient civilization are awe-inspiring, and it was a pleasure to meet talented, hardworking, and warm Palestinians as well as other Arab people. What a joyful encounter it was for me, having heard and read about these people only in conflict-related and often negative coverage! Korea, at least South Korea, is also often called “Asia’s best-kept secret” by foreign residents in the country for similar reasons—its rich cultural legacy and the friendliness of the people.

A LONG HISTORY

Like the Middle East, Korea has a long and full history, framed by its strategic location. Korea’s recorded history goes back before the time of Christ. Its formal existence as a nation and state with a unique linguistic and cultural identity dates from the 7th century A.D. In spite of numerous foreign invasions, Koreans have maintained their distinctive character, and have enjoyed some of the longest-lasting dynasties in human history. The most recent, the Choso¢n or Yi Dynasty, lasted over five centuries, until it succumbed to the imperialistic forces of westernized Japan in 1910.

The Chosn Dynasty officially adopted Confucianism as its guiding principle to an extent equaled by no other nation, not even the Chinese themselves. This ethical and philosophical system, emphasizing interpersonal relationships and harmony between man and nature, remains an influential force today. It stresses self-cultivation, rectitude, loyalty, and sincerity toward others. With Confucianism as the vehicle, Koreans established and rigidly adhered to principles of propriety, even earning for their country the nickname of “the Eastern nation of etiquette.”

The most important and sacred concept is the family: a special bonding unit within which hierarchical order is created and maintained. Although divorce is no longer unthinkable, it is still stigmatized as a profound human failure. Disputes between father and son, especially over material matters, are considered tragic and a disgrace. Analogies with family relationships are often used to describe societal, national, and even international relations. Thus, teachers are like fathers; close friends are like brothers and sisters; and older friends are uncles and aunts, grandfathers and grandmothers. China—the big, powerful, civilized neighbor— was long considered a big brother.

TRAGEDY OF NATIONAL DIVISION

Korea regained independence at the end of World War II, but, falling victim to the Cold War era as well as to internal strife, was soon divided in two. A civil war of the most brutal kind broke out when North Korea invaded the South in 1950 in an attempt to unify the country under a communist regime. Officially, the war never ended, although there has been no major conflict on the peninsula since the armistice was signed in 1953. Estranged brothers, North Koreans and South Koreans have become even fiercer foes than before the war. Just as in the case of a broken family, Koreans on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) consider this division a national shame that must be corrected to restore national honor.

Reunification has been largely an abstract notion, however, for there has long been a certain sense of pessimism about the possibility of a political system acceptable to both sides. Some have proposed a peaceful coexistence between two independent but cooperating entities. The problem is that siblings are not equal; there is always an elder brother. The fear of being dominated by the other side, coupled with half a century of brain-washing rhetoric on both sides, has polarized the nation more and more. Border crossing may be a cumbersome and frustrating experience for Palestinians, but at least it can be done. Between North and South Korea, for much of the past 50 years, there has been absolutely no communication, no exchange of relatives, not even of letters.

With the thawing of the Cold War, the prevailing ideology on the peninsula today is probably nationalism. The very force that is subdividing countries along ethnic lines elsewhere in the world is urging Koreans to become one again. Koreans are very jealous of their independence, following the humiliation of occupation by the Japanese, to whom they had considered themselves superior. The feeling intensified with the subsequent friendly, but less than equal, partnership with neighboring superpowers, the North with the Soviet Union and then China, and the South with the United States.

Nationalism has taken a drastically different course in the two parts of the peninsula. The North has decided to promote self-confidence by indoctrination. The governing system has thus been reoriented to a North Korean version of communism, the “Chuch’e” (Self-Reliance) ideology, leading to isolationist and xenophobic practices. Everything native is pure and beautiful, and all foreign elements should be eradicated from word and deed. Foreign travel is extremely limited, even for the North Korean leadership.

This doctrine has proved to be a very efficient mechanism for controlling the North Korean people, who have remained cut off from the outside world. But tradebreakdowns with former socialist countries and several successive bad harvests have left North Korea suffering from severe food and energy shortages. As of 1999, gross national income in North Korea is but one-twenty-fifth that of South Korea. An increasingly isolated and tense North Korean leadership has organized frequent terrorist attacks against South Korean civilians and high officials in times of insecurity. North Korea’s suspected nuclear programs, therefore, are of great concern to the international community.

South Koreans, although equally nationalistic, have taken much more time to regain their self-esteem. Trying to reconstruct the country from the ashes of the war, they initially even blamed their traditional values for their current weakness. However, living and traveling in close contact with all sorts of foreigners under an open political and economic system, South Koreans have found themselves competitive economically, intellectually, and artistically with other advanced nations. Gradually, but surely, they have regained confidence in themselves, and this feeling is intensified as the country’s economy prospers. A renewed sense of optimism has emerged as education made broadly based upward mobility possible. True confidence has really come about, however, as an increasing number of Koreans have achieved international prominence in business, the arts, sciences, and sports.

Political progress toward democracy on the Korean peninsula has been slow in coming. Kim Il Sung, referred to by North Koreans as “Our Father the Great Leader,” was the longest reigning political leader of the 20th century. South Korea endured a long military rule, and its authoritarian governments have met with constant student demonstrations and international protest. In both Koreas, however, people expect and respect a strong leader as the head of the state, as a father figure, as it were. In the north, this has been carried to the point that Kim Il Sung has been virtually deified, as he projected the image of a truly caring leader who rescued the people from bondage and who loved them deeply. South Koreans, in contrast, being extremely independent-minded, rarely considered even a strong president as more than a transient power.

THE PASSING OF KIM IL SUNG AND POSSIBLE SCENARIOS FOR THE FUTURE

President Kim Il Sung died on July 8, 1994, of an apparent heart attack, on the very day talks were resuming between US and North Korean officials to ease the tensions deriving from North Korea’s withdrawal from the International Atomic Energy Agency. This United Nations agency serves as the nuclear watchdog over compliance by signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, among them North Korea. So far, the transfer of power to Kim’s son and heir Kim Jong Il, who has been groomed for the position for over 20 years, seems to be smooth sailing. This transition is making history as the first dynastic inheritance of power in a communist regime, thereby revealing the limitations of that label when applied to North Korea.

The fundamental problem with this transition is that no one seems to know much about Kim Jong Il, the new “Great Leader.” This very unpredictability of the situation lies at the core of the disquiet felt in South Korea and throughout the international community. At the time of the transition, there were five possible scenarios for North Korea’s relationship with South Korea, and with the outside world:

Scenario 1—Status Quo
At least for the time being, no major change will be observable. Because of the respect and love North Koreans bestowed on Kim Il Sung, his son might try his best to give at least the appearance that he is adhering closely to his father’s path. However, he might become the subject of domestic criticism, as he does not seem to have his father’s charisma. In any case, preserving the status quo is practically impossible when there is a sudden change in leadership after a 46-year rule.

Scenario 2—Gradual Democratization through Economic and Political Reforms
As North Korea continues its efforts to normalize relations with the United States, partly to weaken the relationship between the United States and South Korea, Pyongyang might have to adopt a more accommodating stance toward different political and economic practices. This shift would take the form of a Chinese-style economic reform, oriented toward the development of a market economy. In particular, there would be a brisk exchange and cooperation with South Korea, at first purely on an economic basis. As they have greater contact with foreign systems and people, North Koreans might relax their attitude toward gradual democratization.

On June 13, 2000, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, right, received a warm welcome from North Korea’s reclusive leader Kim Jong Il, who surprised the world by appearing at Pyongyang’s Sunan Airport to greet the South Korean president in a lavish welcome ceremony. Kim Dae-jung later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his peace initiatives.

Scenario 3—Popular Riots à la German Unification
If the North Korean economy keeps heading downward, however, people may grow less willing to put up with continued hardship and deprivation. North Koreans, increasingly pressed by worsening economic conditions, would become increasingly discontented. A growing number of people are likely to defect and seek refuge in South Korea. When measures are taken to prevent them from crossing over to the South, there may be riots, eventually leading to a German-style unification. This scenario is no longer considered as attractive a solution to South Koreans as it appeared in 1989. Instant and total reunification has proven very costly to the German government and would be a much greater relative burden on South Korea.

Scenario 4—Coup d’Etat in the North
A mediocre and weak new North Korean leadership and the ensuing sociopolitical uncertainty may encourage some factions of the military to strike. Chances are that the insecure new leader will attempt to tighten his grip even more than when his father was alive. This might make a coup impossible to attempt, at least for a while. Eventually, if a coup d’état is staged, its leaders might first try to develop the domestic economy, possibly along the model of South Korean President Park Chung-Hee’s regime, as a way of winning support from the populace. In a less attractive scenario, these new leaders might also engage in various forms of disruptive, aggressive behavior towards South Korea in order to quiet internal dissension, should warring military factions develop.

Scenario 5—War
Under this scenario, North Korea accelerates its nuclear programs to meet a chronic dearth of energy, with weapons capability a frightening side effect. Such a move would be viewed by many analysts as the action of an insecure leader looking to flex some muscle and make sure everyone in North Korea and, indeed, the world, knows he is fully in control. When any further negotiations prove impossible, the international community imposes economic sanctions. Cornered and desperate, North Koreans might strike, especially if Seoul should decide to develop its own nuclear program, desiring greater national-security independence from the United States. Being so close by and nuclear-capable, Japan might get involved in the war. Any such war would be over quickly, but be so destructive that the sun would not rise again in the Northeast Asian region for a very long time.

For most of us, of course, Scenario 2 remains the most attractive outcome. Within that context, a peaceful unification really is foreseeable. One optimal choice would be a confederation, a one-president “United States of Korea,” with each of the two member states having complete local autonomy, yet engaging in active cooperation. The country, unified in this way, would become a major force in the world with 70 million highly educated people and, by many estimates, a self-defense capability.

Although many South Koreans believe that reunification will require a great deal of sacrifice, they also foresee many advantages. For instance, South Korea’s wages are too high for their products to be competitive in international markets. If and when unification materializes, North Korea’s skilled labor will be available at a reasonable cost. However, South Koreans must not forget to pay serious attention to the needs of North Korean workers who might feel humiliated and even revolt against the incomparably wealthier South Koreans, the large majority of whom already have a condescending attitude toward their northern brethren. Koreans, both North and South, are proud people. It is extremely important for them to be able to lead an honorable and dignified life, even when it is a materially poor one.

North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong Il, 4th from right, is flanked by South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, third from left, and First Lady Lee Hee-ho and other members of the South Korean delegation, as they offer a toast at the farewell luncheon concluding the three-day summit meeting in June 2000 between the leaders of North and South Korea.

No doubt, one also needs a charismatic leadership in the South if there is to be any hope for peace and unity on the Korean peninsula. Until recently, there has been too much waffling on the part of the South Korean government. Both the conservatives and liberals are vociferous groups. The fate of the whole peninsula— whether the deep and lifelong wish of the vast majority of all Koreans could be answered—might depend on whose voices are heard louder.

While I was in Jordan, I was struck by a woman’s response when asked what she thought of Chairman Arafat. She said, “All my life I was told that I was an orphan. And one day, a man comes along and tells me he is my father. What would you say to him?” As I listened to her voice, I wondered when the two parts of Korea would come together and say to each other, “I am your long-lost twin brother. We have no other relations on this earth. Let us become close once more and be together, never to part again.”

EPILOGUE

In 2001, the situation in the Middle East and the Korean peninsula seems to have reversed, in many respects. As hate and violence among neighbors escalate in the Middle East, despite peace efforts by their neighboring countries and world leaders, the unthinkable has actually happened on the Korean peninsula. The two Koreas, estranged brothers and declared enemies for half a century, have been talking on congenial, even conciliatory, terms. And they have done so without any help from the superpowers that divided them 50 years ago, as noted by Chalmers Johnson, president of the Japan Policy Research Institute. I choked with emotion, as did millions of other Koreans, while watching a satellite broadcast—direct from Pyongyang—of the historic embrace of South Korea’s President Kim Dae-jung and North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong Il in June 2000, in a ceremony to which no foreign journalists were invited.

All of a sudden, peace on the Korean peninsula seems no longer an abstract notion and a distant dream. Reunification no longer looks infinitely remote. Some of the immediate watershed developments have included the exchanges of separated families, and meetings between journalists, artists, and scholars. For the first time in half a century, South Korean tourists can actually tread on North Korean soil, and visit the beautiful Diamond Mountains, whose 12,000 peaks, according to a popular Korean song, everyone should see at least once in a lifetime.

Now that the “impossible” has happened, though, people are impatient to see further progress. Barely one year after the historic “breakthrough” in inter-Korean relations, the initial excitement and optimism are giving way to skepticism and uneasiness. Ironically, the effort to reunite the divided nation is causing new schisms among independent-minded South Koreans. However eager the two leaders may be, reunification will not be feasible if they do not obtain support from their own people. International support is also essential, and the new Republican administration in the United States has shown no sign it is in a hurry to negotiate with North Korea. The superpowers surrounding Korea have continually stated that the reunification of the Korean people should eventually depend on the Koreans themselves. Yet, once the Koreans agree to try to resolve the question of reunification on their own initiative, the superpowers seem to feel left out of the process and uneasy, if not even slighted. It would be premature, at this point, to rule out any of the five scenarios I have suggested.

Koreans know, however, that Kim Dae-jung’s peace initiative and Kim Jong Il’s response have changed people’s attitude in both Koreas toward each other for good. One recent survey reports that South Korean school-children, who once considered North Koreans devils incarnate, now regard North Korea as the closest country and neighbor. Crude propaganda and open insults toward the other side of the 38th parallel are now considered not only wrong, but also tasteless and downright stupid.

And a number of concrete projects are under study to thaw the icy relationship between the two Koreas and to promote cooperation and mutual benefit. One such project, the “Iron Silk Road,” would reconnect the two sections of the Kyo¢ng’u¢i railway line that once linked Seoul with Shinu¢iju, a city on the Chinese border. Through this line, people and goods will be able to travel from Pusan to all parts of Europe. For some Koreans, this railway reconnection is the first hope of economic and cultural enrichment not only for Koreans, but also for many others along the way, just as the original Silk Road fostered the exchange of goods, ideas, and even people along its route between East and West. Unification skeptics have called this project a “Trojan horse,” which Pyongyang would use to reinvade the South.

Also under discussion is a proposal to build a road across the DMZ to provide access to tourism sites in the Diamond Mountains. In early October 2001, South Korean officials traveled to the scenic area to discuss the proposed road access, which would require opening part of the heavily fortified border. The Diamond Mountains resort area will reportedly be designated by North Korea as a special tourism zone where South Korean companies would be able to engage in business ventures.

A week later, in mid-October, however, North Korean officials postponed a scheduled reunion of 200 separated family members. Official statements from Pyongyang cited concerns over the “warlike status” in South Korea, which placed its military and police forces on alert after the September 11 attacks in the United States.

Such steps forward and back, perhaps, are an inevitable part of any long-term peace process. And even if the reunification does come to pass, misgivings run quite deep. Many in South Korea worry that new violence might erupt, as people of significantly differentiated cultures and most likely belonging to different economic classes would clash, just as in the case of the Jewish and Palestinian peoples in the Middle East.

For now, at least, there is reason to be optimistic now that long-lost brothers have unexpectedly come together on the Korean peninsula. Instead of watching and scrutinizing each other with suspicion, it is time for both sides to look ahead together and show the world how strong and impressive they can be when they act in unison. Taking a few bold steps, such as establishing diplomatic relations between the two Koreas, allowing direct contacts between all their citizens, and promoting transnational and international exchanges, is in the interests of the superpowers as well as of all Koreans.

For 50 years, the world has watched and waited— and even actively pushed—for peace in the Middle East. Time and again, early signs of optimism have given way to new eruptions of violence, and new generations grow up knowing only strife. For the Korean peninsula, too, there has been a 50-year wait for harmony. Are the hopes of the Korean people and optimistic signs of peaceful reunification going to fizzle? Will there be new depths of mistrust on both sides? It is my heartfelt wish that the present momentum for peace continues, and that the two Koreas will find new avenues to become one again. How soon and how permanently peace might prevail is, of course, anybody’s guess, but Koreans are known for surprises. And I still dream of the day when I will ride the Silk Road Express from Seoul to Paris.

Young-Key Kim-Renaud (CC ’00) is a professor of Korean language and culture and international affairs at The George Washington University.

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