A Glimpse at the Growing Pains Connected with Reunification

While living in Korea, I was always surprised at some South Korean citizens’ belief that reunification, whenever it should happen, will be smooth sailing. Indeed, one would think that is the message the ROK government is trying to sell. Has anyone seen the video they play at the DMZ? I’m not sure if they’ve since changed it, but when I saw it, they had smiling, well-fed, healthy children running around a grassy field with butterflies and flowers and a little girl who appeared to be picking something off the barbed-wire fence separating North and South Korea. It looked like she was picking off buns or rice cakes or something. Anyway, I found it an odd image to portray, especially considering the significance of the area and what goes on on the Northern side of the DMZ. But I guess in retrospect, I can appreciate the symbolism — if I were to assess it from a South Korean citizens’ standpoint, that is.

Anyway, in reality, I do think that despite their lofty expectations about reunification, there are some (older?) South Koreans who acknowledge that when it does happen, it will bring many complications at first. I could list several potential growing pains, many which the peninsula has already dealt when North Koreans relocate to the South: discrimination of North Koreans by South Koreans; difficulties North Koreans would face adjusting to life in a highly developed, capitalist society; cheap North Korean labor creating more job competition and resulting in restless labor unions; self-segregation and the possible development of North Korean ghettos; the financial burden South Koreans would carry in process of rebuilding the peninsula and of course, legal issues.

The idea of cross-border legal grievances is an interesting one and it looks like South Korea is getting a sneak preview of what might happen in a reunified nation. Apparently, for the first time, a South Korean court has accepted a civil dispute brought forth by North Korean citizens. From the New York Times:

Four North Korean brothers and sisters have sued their late father’s second wife and that couple’s four children in South Korea for a share of an inheritance from the estate of the father, a successful doctor.

The suit claims at least a quarter of the father’s land and other property, worth about $8 million. He left North Korea for the South with his eldest daughter during the 1950-53 Korean War and never returned. In 1959, he reported that his first wife had died and married a South Korean woman, with whom he had four more children. He died in 1987.

[…]

The lawsuit was initiated last year by the eldest daughter, who still lives in the South. The lawyer handling the suit is Bae Geum-ja, who was involved in a similar case in 2001 that was settled out of court.

The article’s concluding sentence highlights the complications that could arise, depending on the verdict: “If the plaintiffs prevail in this case, every North Korean with a relative in South Korea will claim an inheritance.” Hopefully by then, some sort of legislation will be in place to determine how best to handle such suits. No doubt this will be a case study for aspiring South Korea lawyers.

9 Responses

  1. The Roh/DJ school had a schizophrenic view of reunification. They pumped sugary pulp into the stomachs of the voters, along the lines of what Jodi described in her post, even as the UniFiction Ministry’s economists tried to ward off collapsists with dire predictions of how much more expensive Korea’s unification would be than Germany’s.

    There is some truth to both facets. The moral and material superiority of post-revolutionary Korea over the status quo should be obvious enough, notwithstanding the inevitable chaos. And there will be gauzy moments: inmates will go free from camps, wives will see their abducted husbands again, families will be reunited with long lost relatives. Korea will be a bigger and greater country. Some people will grow rich, and others will be married. And then the hangover will begin, because it will be astronomically costly — on many levels — to reassemble two nations that have grown so far apart. It will take two generations to heal it, and that’s just psychologically.

    Those grains of truth don’t redeem the Roh/DJ world view. The idea of gradual reunification is now an established and accepted failure, and change is coming to North Korea.

  2. Really? Having grown up in the ROK in the mid to late 1990’s and staying in touch with my friends in the ROK (as well as being active in the diaspora community here in Toronto), my impression was actually the opposite, especially among younger South Koreans. I found that the average person was actually quite leery about a speedy reunification, simply looking at the German example and groaning at the sheer cost of it.

  3. My own personal experience confirms Jack’s anecdotal observation, not Ms. Kiely. The only Koreans I’ve encountered who are sanguine about rapid re-unification seem to be those who have family left in the North or who have family members who went MIA during the Korean War (e.g. my mother). And as Jack says, the fears of a general economic deterioration as a result of having to foot most of the bill for re-building the North seems to be the main source of anxiety.

  4. Interesting to hear that because during my time in Korea, the topic of reunification came up quite a bit and usually Korean citizens I spoke with (20s through 40s) felt very strongly about reunifying ASAP regardless of the cost – but this is just from my personal experience. Most of these people simply repeated the brotherly love rhetoric that I often encountered, with the statement that the financial costs would be a “burden” they would accept.

    But others had reasons that went beyond sentimental. For example, one person told me that with reunification, a unified Korea could finally become a legitimate nuclear power, something he wanted to see happen soon. He also claimed that this was the reason why the U.S. would never allow reunification to occur.

    I’m not sure if the opinions I heard were by-products of the Roh administration’s stance on the topic because often times nationalism got in the way of having a serious conversation about reunification. But with just a few exceptions, most people within my circles seemed to underestimate the difficulties reunification would bring.

  5. I was in Busan for most of my time there. Roh’s hometown of Gimhae was nearby. Maybe that was why?

  6. I would have to agree with Jack’s and Won Joon’s observations.

    While I only have very limited contact with South Koreans in their late 20’s (graduate students attending S. and K. universities), overwhelming response from the people I know about unification of two Koreas is of “What’s in it for me?” Economic cost seems to be the largest factor in their questions.

    These guys (and gals) grew up during the IMF era…now that they are about to enter the work force (some for the first time and some for the second time), the global economy tanked. So, these guys are not very optimistic about unification of any sort any time soon (I don’t think they ever were).

    Aside from economic factors, quite a lot of them raise the fact that they really don’t see the North Koreans as the long lost “brothers/cousins” who they need to “save from the jaws of tyranny” by committing to something as significant as unification. Humanitarian assistance? Sure, they don’t want everyone to die off, but that is about as far as they seem to be willing to go.

    And as these folks go into the society and eventually attain decision-making positions in the society, the question of unification will become more and more tied to practicality rather than the romanticism and nostalgia of a unified Korean peninsula that some of the older South Koreans have today.

    Now, I must emphasize that this is my observation based on the mid- and late-20 somethings that I know in Seoul, so the sample is more likely than not biased one way or another. So, take it for what it’s worth. I only say that because I have also observed quite a few early-20 somethings in Seoul who are not very much into the economic question about unification….

    I have my ideas about the causes of their different views (other than personal preference, but as separate generations as a whole), but that would be a whole different discussion.

  7. Yeah, up in Seoul it’s far more common to find people who fear what reunification will do to their pocketbook than those who support it. The younger you are, the more likely you feel this way.

    Joshua wrote:

    The idea of gradual reunification is now an established and accepted failure

    About gradual vs. immediate reunification, isn’t there a way to have some sort of “free” North Korea without actually reunifying, at least for the first 10-20-30 years? Or is that, due to China and maybe other geopolitical factors, simply a non-starter? But that would seem to be the ideal way to do it, wouldn’t it? It would still be expensive for all parties concerned including and especially SK, but it would greatly ease the concerns Jodi and many others raise. (seeing how hard it is for NKs to live in SK society — quick reunification to me seems to be a non-starter, too!)

  8. My impression was that the majority, especially since the reunification of Germany, were actually fearful of reunification of Korea. There was been a bit of criticism from Koreans outside of Korea about this.