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Korea: What's Happened to Unification?
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19545 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1991 |
2,112 Words |
| Author
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William J. Taylor, Jr.
William J. Taylor, Jr., is vice president, International
Security Affairs at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies in Washington, D.C. |
No matter what neat political formulation one devises to bring about the unification of the Korean peninsula, great hurdles remain to be overcome. North and South Korea simply do not trust each other, and they envision very different outcomes of unification. The North's leader, Kim Il Sung, wants a unified communist system under the total control of his son King Jong Il. The South's leaders want to absorb the North under the democratic structure of government that has been developing since President Chun Doo Hwan was persuaded to resign in 1987.
Several formulations have been proposed as interim approaches to unification. The basic approach of the North (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), as stated by President Kim Il Sung in his 1991 New Year address in Pyongyang, is to "reunify" the two Koreas in a confederal republic on the basis of one nation, one state--but two systems and two governments. There would be a unified national government the design for which is not specified. This plan would leave the two governments essentially as they are, maintaining their own ideologies and regional autonomy for the indefinite future until the two sides learn to tolerate each other's ideas and social systems. There is no indication of establishing a democracy in the North based on popular elections. In the meantime, the North has proposed a nonaggression agreement between the North and South, a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops and nuclear weapons from South Korea, and a drastic reduction of armed forces on both sides.
For the South (Republic of Korea), the most recent concept of unification, the "Korean Commonwealth Formula for National Unification," was advanced by President Roh Tae Woo in the National Assembly on September 11, 1989. Its approach is based on an interim stage beginning with mutual recognition and the establishment of a Korean commonwealth. Operating from a "peace zone" to be created within the Demilitarized Zone, the two sides would appoint a council of ministers of 10 cabinet-level officials from both sides. The council would preside over a number of standing committees charged with discussing and adjusting differences in humanitarian, political, diplomatic, economic, military, social, cultural, and other affairs and promote inter-Korean exchanges, trade, and cooperation. A council of representatives of about 100 legislators (equal numbers from each side) would draft a constitution and establish a system of agreed procedures and methods to achieve unification. At an agreed time, general elections would be held under the new constitution to form a unified government and legislature with a bicameral parliament composed of an upper house based on regional representation and a lower house based on
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