A Nation Divided
The Cold War division of the Korean peninsula has led to two starkly different societies. From the ruins of war, South Korea has experienced economic growth, rapid industrialization, and technological and educational advancement. North Korea, in contrast, has become one of the most repressive and isolated regimes in the world, with a stagnating economy, massive human rights abuses, and a nuclear-armed military. Read More
Toward the Peaceful Unification of the Korean Peninsula
from an address by South Korean President Park Geun-hye –
Dresden, Germany, 2014 Read Excerpt
How Korea Became Divided
The 73-year division of the Korean peninsula following the conclusion of World War II has undermined global security, separated a people with a shared history and tradition, and prolonged a humanitarian crisis in the North. Read More
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Just as the German people secured freedom, prosperity and peace by tearing down the Berlin Wall, we too, must tear down barriers in our march toward a new future on the Korean Peninsula. . . .
Formidable still is a ‘socio-cultural wall’ that divides southerners and northeners who have long lived under vastly different ideologies and systems in terms of how they think and live.
Then there is a ‘wall of isolation’imposed by North Korea’s nuclear program, cutting North Korea off from the community of nations.
All of these curtains must be swept away if we are to unite the Korean Peninsula. And in their place we must build a ‘new kind of Korean Peninsula:’ a peninsula free of nuclear weapons, free from the fear of war, and free to enjoy life, peace and prosperity.
I harbor no illusions that these tremendous barriers could be torn down with ease. But the future belongs to those who believe in their dreams and act on them. To make today’s dream of peaceful unification tomorrow’s reality, we must begin meticulous preparations now.