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South Korea looks to Germany for reunification pointers
Deutsche Welle ^ | 10.03.2021 | Julian Ryall

Posted on 10/04/2021 12:54:13 AM PDT by Olog-hai

With just seven months left before he steps down as president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in and his government remain committed to their long-held dream of reuniting the two halves of the Korean Peninsula into a single nation.

And, with Germany as one of the very few countries with recent experience of a similar amalgamation of two states, Unification Minister Lee In-young is traveling to Europe to discuss what can be learned from the events leading up to German reunification in 1990 and subsequent developments.

Analysts suggest Moon and Lee have been “frustrated” by the failure to advance their agenda of bringing the two Koreas closer together over the last five years. But they point out that the reason for cross-border relations being at an impasse does not lie in the South. […]

On Wednesday, a day bracketed by the North’s most recent missile tests, Lee flew to Europe for talks with government officials in Belgium and Sweden before traveling on to Germany.

Lee was due to attend a ceremony on Sunday to mark the 31st anniversary of German reunification, at the invitation of the German parliament. He also delivered a lecture on inter-Korean relations at Berlin’s Free University on Saturday and will meet with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday to discuss Germany’s experience before and after unification, and the potential parallels on the Korean Peninsula. …

(Excerpt) Read more at dw.com ...


TOPICS: Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: eussr; fourthreich; germany; korea; northkorea; reunification; socialism; southkorea
Ain’t no Reagan around this time, so they go to the wrong place.
1 posted on 10/04/2021 12:54:13 AM PDT by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

They must be closed to re-unification.


2 posted on 10/04/2021 12:58:44 AM PDT by Jonty30 (My superpower is setting people up for failure, without meaning to. )
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To: Jonty30

If it does finally happen, it’s going to be a huge mess.


3 posted on 10/04/2021 1:02:54 AM PDT by Jonty30 (My superpower is setting people up for failure, without meaning to. )
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To: Olog-hai
With just seven months left before he steps down as president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in and his government remain committed to their long-held dream of reuniting the two halves of the Korean Peninsula into a single nation.

Are they planning to surrendering to the Norks? I think that’s the only way they will unify.

4 posted on 10/04/2021 1:03:39 AM PDT by Mark17 (USAF ATCer, Retired. Father of USAF pilot. ATCers & pilots, the quintessential elements of aviation)
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To: Jonty30

Why would South Korea even think of unifying with the “loser” North.


5 posted on 10/04/2021 1:12:20 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: Sacajaweau

Because they are family, regardless of the costs.


6 posted on 10/04/2021 1:22:24 AM PDT by Jonty30 (My superpower is setting people up for failure, without meaning to. )
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To: Jonty30

Too high a cost.

And communism stipulates abolition of the family.


7 posted on 10/04/2021 1:40:06 AM PDT by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is going to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)
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To: Jonty30

Lot of rumors over past year of Kim being physically bad-off and that fake Kims are being used for ceremonies. His son is presently eight, and any chance of him assuming the role of Supreme Leader is at least ten years away.

But on your suggestion of a huge mess....various defectors have admitted that arriving in the ‘west’ has been a serious problem to adjust to. To just say overnight....South and North Korea are unified....I don’t think is possible.


8 posted on 10/04/2021 1:46:15 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: Olog-hai

If I were South Korean, I would want the South Korean government to heal North Korea first before there is reunification, to change their culture to something similar to South Korea before actual re-unification took place.

Should it happen, it will be three generations before any real reunification could take place.


9 posted on 10/04/2021 1:47:16 AM PDT by Jonty30 (My superpower is setting people up for failure, without meaning to. )
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To: pepsionice

There can’t be a sudden reunification, imo. Although, China would push for that, just to mess around with Korean politics.

I would probably install an interim government to take control of the country and install small changes along the way until they become compatible before any unification can be formalized.

This is a three generation project, imo.


10 posted on 10/04/2021 1:50:24 AM PDT by Jonty30 (My superpower is setting people up for failure, without meaning to. )
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To: Jonty30

That’s my problem with who they went to for advice. That reunification seemed peaceful, but it was sudden and there are tons of malevolent undercurrents still.


11 posted on 10/04/2021 2:31:47 AM PDT by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is going to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)
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To: Olog-hai

Rule #1: Don’t elect a female member of the North Korean security apparatus as your president/PM. Kim Jong Un’s sister will make Angela Merkel look like a staunch Republican.


12 posted on 10/04/2021 3:13:55 AM PDT by Tallguy
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To: Olog-hai

I heard that there is not too much desire for reunification in South Korea.
The differences between North and South are extreme, and as a matter of fact, North Korea is a quite bigger chunk of Korea than East Germany was as a part of Germany.

North Korea is larger in area than the South, and even after all the terror, wars, starvations, deaths and escapes, North Koreans are still over 1/3 of all Koreans.
In contrary, East Germans were not even 1/4 of all Germans.
And East Germans were a lot better off than North Koreans.
Reuniting Korea would be a lot harder tasks than reuniting Germany. Not everybody in South is looking for that.


13 posted on 10/04/2021 4:08:50 AM PDT by AZJeep (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0AHGreco RomNQkryIIs)
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To: Tallguy

That’s a bit of a relativistic description. What’s a “staunch Republican” and how many have we had over the past half-century?


14 posted on 10/04/2021 4:23:58 AM PDT by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is going to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)
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To: Olog-hai

North Koreans are not so much in the dark about their situation as they were 20 years ago, so maybe there is hope that they will find a way to throw off the military dictatorship and join the South.


15 posted on 10/04/2021 4:25:17 AM PDT by NorthernDancer
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