So for my post this week, I have a story about good ol' North Korea. Apparently, North and South Korea will have high-level talks in early November. During the closing ceremonies of the 2014 Asian Games, South Korea's Prime Minister Chung Hong-won met with North Korea's military and political leaders. This is the first time that the South Korean prime minister has met with North Korean officials since 2007, when Kim Jong-Il was the Dear Leader. A survey showed that over half of South Koreans are in support for reunification with the north. In another survey it showed that only 14 percent of South Koreans see North Korea as enemies, 90 percent said that the north would never give up its nuclear weapons, and 75 percent said North Korea might "launch an armed provocation." Also, sources say that Kim Jong-Un has edema in at least one ankle joint and will require surgery. Very random but its a fun fact you can tell your friends.
I was pretty shocked when only 14 percent of South Koreans actually saw North Korea as enemies. I guess its probably due to the fact that they're technically still at war with each other and so I've always thought that they didn't like each other much. But like the 90 percent, I don't think that North Korea with ever give up their nuclear weapons. But who knows? Maybe someday the Korea's will be reunited.
It would be interesting to ask people in the United States the same questions that were asked in that survey about North Korea and compare the answers. It kind of shocks me too that only 14% of South Koreans viewed North Korea as their enemy. I am also interested to know how close to the truth this survey was (who was asked the questions, and if all demographics were represented).
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can remember from the article, the ones who took the survey were from a magazine called Korea Weekly( or something along those lines.)
DeleteProbably a very major contributor to the small percentage is about history. A good historical precedent for this sort of thing is the Iron Curtain. Families and friends were cut in half. When the Koreas split, people didn't have much time to get out safely. It would be difficult for South Korean's to consider their North Korean relatives and friends, or the country as a whole, as enemies. Additionally, the war has lain more or less dormant for years, easily long enough to relieve xenophobia and get the Koreans back to the unification so often created by a common race.
ReplyDelete-Liam Brookhart
It does make sense that they wouldn't see their family members as enemies
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point Liam, I never thought of it that way. Also, Korea divided a long time ago (in 1945 after World War II). Although they have fought more recently than that, the past ten years or so have seen better relations between the two countries. Ultimately what I'm saying is that the people are growing older, and soon we are seeing a new generation emerge that doesn't have the same feelings about North Korea as their parents and grandparents do.
ReplyDeleteI don't see anything happening anytime soon just because it is still decently recent. Yes the new generation won't have the exact same feelings as their parents, but I am sure their parents have passed on some ill feelings. It does seem as though the tension is lessening though
ReplyDelete-Alan Kitchen
Yeah I don't think that the talks are going to get the two countries any closer to becoming friends let alone becoming one nation again. Parents always have a big role in what the new generation thinks its like the political parties. But what if the situation is more like that of the 1960's where the generation has broken off from the social norm it would be like a bunch of Korean Hippies. Weird.so maybe not that extreme.
DeleteFear is also a big problem. Under the communist regime, a lot of people are scared of what could happen to them. I remember watching a documentary that said the political camps in North Korea( were Kim puts the ones that are against him) are growing. The next generations are building up courage and hopefully something will change for the better soon.
ReplyDeleteI just think that it would be interesting to see what the folks on the north side think of these talks. How their government is setup now we couldn't get any legit data covering all of the demographics but I think if we did the North Koreans would want to reunite with the southern portion. I dunno maybe that's just my Americanism showing again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Nate. Based on what I know about. North Korea, I feel that they would like reuniting with the south.
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