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Opinion
South Korea’s latest unification effort is just more provocation
- The vision of unification South Korea is selling has no room for North Korea or Kim Jong-un’s regime. It is bound to fail
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Dr Gabriela Bernal is a North Korea analyst based in Seoul, South Korea.
On August 15, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol unveiled his government’s new approach to unification. While the goal for unification is enshrined in South Korea’s constitution, previous administrations have aimed for a gradual process built on foundations of trust, reconciliation and cooperation. In contrast, Yoon’s policy appears to centre on a singular objective: a unified Korea based on South Korea’s liberal democratic system.
In his Liberation Day speech, Yoon outlined three key tasks to be implemented: defend and further strengthen the value of freedom in South Korea; bring about changes in North Korea through human rights improvements and external information; and expand cooperation with the international community to achieve unification. According to the South Korean president, the goal should be “unification through freedom” and to establish a “free, peaceful and prosperous unified Republic of Korea” (ROK).
In other words, there is no place for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s regime in Yoon’s vision of a united Korea, which he referred to as the ROK, South Korea’s official name – explicitly pointing to the absorption of the north.
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