From division to reunification: the case of Korea and Germany

The issue of a divided Korea affects peace and prosperity not only for the Korean peninsula but also for the entire Asian-Pacific region. The division of Korea has made the two Koreas heavily armed and has provided an excuse for the arms race in the region. Japan pursues rearmament in the cause of national security against the threat from North Korea, which in turn spurs China? arms buildup. The United States has also been deeply involved in this military tension. To end this competitive armament, the reunification of Korea is a necessary step. However, reunification will be a long and difficult process. Consequently, I think it can be useful to learn from the experience of Germany because it has gone through a similar process. At the same time, in order to create an appropriate model for Korean reunification we need to consider that the conditions of division and reunification in the two countries are not the same. Thus I conducted an interview with a German about how Germany was divided and reunified, and about what has changed since reunification. I hope this interview will provide useful lessons for the two Koreas to achieve reunification or peaceful co-existence.

Interviewer:Hyunjin Kang-Graham
Interviewee:Jakub Piwowarski

Kang-Graham:
I am interested in the circumstances of Germany? division in 1949. Would you tell me about the division of Germany? First, let me tell you about how Korea was divided. Korea was liberated from the 36 years of Japanese occupation (1910-1945) after the Japanese Empire unconditionally surrendered in World War II. Many Koreans had fought for independence, but it came suddenly with the victory of the Allied Forces. Soon after, U.S. and Soviet forces came to the Korean peninsula to disarm Japanese troops. As a result, the U.S. Army Military government ruled over Southern Korea (1945-1948), while the Soviet army exerted influence on Northern Korea. Two contrasting ideologies were implanted into the minds of Koreans, which were to become the seeds of the long conflict among Koreans. Subsequently, the Republic of Korea (ROK) was established in the South in August of 1948 and the Democratic People? Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the North in September of the same year. Although separate governments were declared, few Koreans expected the long division of the peninsula. Both governments pursued reunification, but their versions of reunification were centered on their own ideology, with the expectation that the other? ideology would be defeated.

In June 25, 1950, the North invaded the South to reunify Korea under communism. That was the beginning of the Korean War, which is often called the tragedy of a fratricidal war. The war lasted until the Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953. The agreement was signed by Mark W. Clark (U.S. Army General and commander of the U.N.), Peng De-Huai (commander of the Chinese People? Volunteers) and Kim Il-Sung (Supreme commander of the Korean People? Army). South Korea refused to sign because President Lee Seung-Man did not agree to the armistice and instead insisted on unification through defeating the communist North by force. The armistice solidified the division of the Korean peninsula. Hence, contrasting ideologies (Communism versus Capitalism) were a crucial factor of the division of Korea, under the influence of the two Cold War superpowers. Although the Cold War has ended, Korea remains divided and represents one of the last remnants of the Cold War legacy.

Piwowarski:
The division of Germany was a product of the dispute between the Soviet Union and the Allied Forces, mainly the United States. After World War II, they could not reach an agreement on how to manage the post war situation, and the whole situation escalated in the so-called Cold War era led by the Soviet Union and the United States. A collision of ideologies and a struggle over power between the two power blocs resulted in the division of Germany. The Soviet Union occupied the eastern part of Germany, and the Western Allies (the USA, the UK, and France) occupied the western part of Germany. And in 1961, the Berlin wall was built and secured the border between East and West Germany. Germans were not allowed to go to the other part freely from then until the fall of the wall in 1989. Actually, you know I am originally Polish, and I lived in the communist part of Europe when I was little. When my parents decided to move to Germany, it was an extremely dangerous and risky thing. We had to go from Poland to East Germany and pass the border into Berlin.

 I only remember very few things, but I remember heavily armed soldiers and the really high tension in the car when we were controlled at the border. Sometimes people tried to climb over the wall, but it was under very heavy guard. Soldiers shot at people when they saw people trying to climb over. I don? know exactly who built the wall, but the reason was of course because Berlin was occupied by both forces, the Allied Forces and the Soviet Forces. Neither side wanted to give the other any chance to establish their ideology. The creation of the wall symbolized the Cold War. Nobody really expected the wall to be built, and nobody expected it to suddenly collapse. If my parents would have known that the wall would tumble down, they could have waited two more months, spared so much stress and avoided such a high risk. You know, just two months after we moved to Germany in this really dangerous situation, the wall was erased. I remember the fall of the wall. I was there when it started to be torn down. It was long ago, but I still remember some parts.

Kang-Graham:
Reunification is the long process of overcoming mistrust and enhancing mutual understanding for the purposes of a peace settlement. Korea is in the beginning stage of the process, while it seems that Germany is getting close to the last stage, reconciling differences and rebuilding a nation. I would like to give an account of what Korea has done to move toward Korean reunification and to learn about what Germans did to attain the reunification of Germany in 1989. Over a half century has passed since the two Koreas have begun to exist under different ideologies and political systems. This history has made cultural differences become more significant. Both Koreas have defined their counterpart as a puppet regime, not a legitimate government. North Korea is still designated as an anti-state organization under South Korea? National Security Law. Also, painful memories of the Korean War brought distrust and enmity against each other. However, hope for one nation, inherited from the same ancestry, led Koreans to take steps toward reunification. The door for inter-Korean economic cooperation was opened in 1998 when Chung Ju-yung, the Hyundai Group founder, drove through Panmunjeom – a village in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the Korean peninsula – with a herd of 501 cattle. Chung Ju-yung met North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and secured an agreement to let South Koreans and foreigners visit Mt. Kumgang, a part of North Korean territory. On June 13, 2000, the first South-North Summit since the division of the peninsula took place. South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Jong-Il signed the South-North Joint Declaration, which allowed separated families to be reunited. Over three thousand separated families were reunited from the first round to the fifteenth round of family reunion sessions (August 2000-May 2007). Also, during the first summit, an agreement was reached on the construction of the Kaesong Industrial Complex for the sake of inter-Korean economic cooperation. As of 2007, 45 companies operate in the complex.

On October 2, 2007, South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun walked through the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) to participate in the second South-North Summit. The two leaders signed a Declaration on the Advancement of South-North Korean Relations, Peace and Prosperity. They also shared an interest in establishing a peace regime by declaring the end of the Korean War. Considering the importance of dialogue and contacts, they agreed to open direct air flights between Seoul and Mt. Baekdu. Mt. Baekdu is located on the border of North Korea and China and has been considered the ancestral mountain of the Korean nation. Separated family reunions will be expanded as well. Most importantly, both parties agreed ?ot to antagonize each other?and ?o oppose war on the Korean Peninsula and to adhere strictly to their obligation to nonaggression?(Declaration on the Advancement of South-North Relations, Peace and Prosperity, October 4, 2007). These are the things the two Koreas have done for reunification.

Piwowarski:
The division of Germany separated many families from their husbands/wives, grandfathers/grandmothers and uncles/aunts. They really wanted to see them again. For the sake of the separated family, money is no matter, but of course nobody expected that it would cost that much. It is impossible to estimate the future expense precisely. West Germany put a huge amount of money into the East. This is the primary factor that made the reunification possible, but is also the cause of many troubles that have prevailed until today. What brought the 1989 reunification was the strong will of the population to reunite, and the political situations where the East ran out of money to sustain itself while the West made a big effort toward reunification. The communist leadership had failed to provide the most essential supplies for the population, which put a lot of pressure on the leadership. Also, the people in the East knew about the situation in the West, even though access to West German media was restricted. I don? know about the situation exactly because I was only nine years old at the time. But I know there was a lot of illegal radio listening. East Germans thought the West was a kind of “dreamland” where everything would be possible, and many tried to flee to the West, even risking their lives. Still, nobody expected the wall to comedown so fast.

Kang-Graham:
The unification of territory is not necessarily followed by the unification of the people. Since people have lived under different systems, there are cultural differences and misperceptions of each other. An increasing number of North Korean defectors reside in South Korea, but many of them have a lot of difficulty fitting into South Korean society. They feel like they are discriminated against, disrespected, and treated as second-class citizens by arrogant South Koreans. On the other hand, many South Koreans think that North Koreans are ignorant, lazy and poor. I am curious about how the East and West Germans have felt about each other. Also, what are the biggest issues that Germany has had to deal with since reunification, and what has it done to resolve them? Are there any classes or programs in school to reduce cultural differences among the German people?

Piwowarski:
Even though Germany was unified in 1989, there is still a line between the East and the West in the minds of Germans. We can easily tell who came from which side by the way they talk, dress, or style their hair. Just like Koreans, we also have the same stereotypes and a lot of prejudices against each other. First of all, the sudden reunification of Germany made the people from the eastern part have to be confronted with a capitalist society very quickly. In a capitalist society, most people tend to be a little bit more concerned with their own interest. So, people from the East regard those from the West as selfish and not so nice, and still often say ?efore, everything was better.?It means better before the reunification. Truly, their situation has really been improved, but now they just have different expectations for social life and people? behavior. The left-wing has gained huge popularity again in Germany, and most of its supporters are in the eastern part of Germany. One of the present problems is that the West is still spending so much money to rebuild the East. Since the development gap between the two was very big, massive investment is needed to narrow the gap. What makes it worse is that people from the West still refuse to go to work in the East, while those from the East try to come to the West at any cost. In the East, the unemployment rate is almost 25%. On the other hand, in the West, a lot of people complain about all the people from the East coming to the West and taking away their jobs. Additionally, the education in the eastern part is not as good as in the western part. Highly qualified professors and teachers refuse to work in the East not only because of the low salary but also the cultural differences. So there are a lot of prejudices about the qualification of people from the East for jobs. However, I remember that when I worked for a bank, most of my co-workers came from East Germany, and we made a lot of jokes about being the only three people from West Germany out of twenty. So the situation has changed. I think the whole unification process needs more time. Germany is still far away from a perfect unification. There are no special courses or classes to reduce cultural differences. However, in my personal opinion, those kinds of courses are only partially useful, but in a lot of cases they don? fulfill their aim. On the contrary, they may even deepen the differences because they can show very strongly how different they and their ways of thinking are.