Sometime in June of this year, Kim Dae Jung and Kim Jong Il will meet for the first time. They are complete strangers to each other, although both consider themselves Korean. An unstable armistice holds millions of soldiers deployed througout the Korean peninsula in a permanent state of war, pitting three armies against each other across a no man's land of barbed wire, tunnels, and placards. Generations of Koreans on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) have only known war, yet a delusion even more insane than the actions of Kim Jong Il grips both countries, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (DPRK), in its narcotic sway: unification.

World history is littered with the dreams of aggrieved peoples. Zionism is even a philosophy. But Simon Bolivar , the latin George Washington, dreamed of a South American empire, and the Communists in China seek legitimacy for their brutality by uniting the Peoples' Republic with Hong Kong, Macau, and the Republic of China (ROC). Serbs, Albanians, and Croats all want to unify the same piece of land, only without any other group getting in the way. African borders are now so disputed, it is a continent only in geographical terms, and "Africa" is a hollow word. Kurds, Armenians, Tajiks, Basques, and Irish flout geography and borders with romantic disregard. And, the dream of Islamic solidarity still enthralls the young, whether they be Shiite or Sunnite, or just anti-Hindu. "Korea" is just one more romantic nightmare, produced from the tortured souls of another aggrieved group doomed to live in a dangerous place.

I read a story, published in 1932, by Kim Dong In entitled, "Bare Hills" (Korean Short Stories, trans. by Hong Myoung-Hee, 1975). It is a Korean physician's fictional memoir of a Korean farming village called Xx-chon, located in Manchuria (currently the PRC), and aKorean outcast named Chang Ik Ho. Xx-chon is a spot of; korean-ness in the Manchurian hinterland, and is brutally ruled by a warlord.Chang Ik Ho, nicknamed "Sark" (wildcat), is an itinerant rogue, who repays the hospitality of his fellow Korean guests with curses,drunkenness, rape, and brawling. He contributes no labor, and has to be guarded by male field workers when the rest of the villagers are working in the fields. Still, the villagers tolerate Sark. When another male fieldhand is tortured by the warlord's thugs, Sark, in righteous indignation, seeks a brawl with the thugs. Sark is mortally wounded, and, in death, is honored by the villagers for his patriotic valor.

The same illogical impracticality is present in discussions of Korean unification. The Korean peninsula has been a political multiverse longer than it has been a unified entity. Regional differences are so pronounced, that Koreans still aggregate around regional axes, rather than ideological platforms. But the delusion goes beyond regional myopia, and extends into dangerous and criminal nightmares. Not only are many Korean nations more practical for Koreans, but Northeast Asian regional stability is facilitated. And, last, it is better for the citizens of the DPRK.

In the wake of the recent economic recession, there was much discussion of; the Asian model of capitalism. Particularly, both apologists and critics waged a battle over the utility of; Confucian values. Apologists argued that, the values of family and friendship gave business relations a moral; resilience, because the individual sacrificed for the good of the family. Critics saw this as a clever justification forcorruption and nepotism. Both miss the point. It is not the economic value of Confucianism alone that is important, but, rather, its relationship with the political sphere. If there are not mature democratic institutions, like an independent judiciary and a viable electoral system, the corporate sector will establish an almost fascist infrastructure. Therefore, if the DPRK, as well as, say, Kyongsangnam-do,retain political sovereignty, if proper, viable political structures are in place, Koreans can keep their family-run corporations. Because these enterprises often retain a local flavor, it seems unlikely, that one large nation-state will form. The DPRK may even split into more manageable, provincial sovereign states.

Because of the limitations of Confucian-run corporations, it is better that the chaebol be reduced in size, by selling their finance subsidiaries. Also, they should not be allowed into the DPRK market, as a prelude to unification or ever, until they have eliminated debt and excess subsidiaries. The DPRK market is just too tempting an opportunity for a bankrupt enterprise to recoup losses. A captive capital and labor market, especially if non-Korean firms are barred entry, and; non-transparent bookkeeping, is a repeat of the Japanese occupation in 1910. The citizens of the DPRK deserve to be welcomed into the world by technically astute and liberal firms, not corrupt, insolvent,; and zenophobic "cousins".

Last, regional peace may be better served by at least two Korean nations. Like Yugoslavia before the Serbian offensive, multiple Korean nations may act centipetally to channel hostile, military intentions and maintain peace. One unified nation may cause the nascent Korean statelet to defensively militarize, thus provoking China or Japan to pre-emptively neutralize and colonize the peninsula again.

The dream of a unified Korea is like Sark: a dangerous fiction. There is no reason for Korea to be one nation, and many more reasons to leave it as two, at least. Unification gives too many opportunities for corruption to continue, political institutions to remain immature, and invasion and colonization to recur. The two Kims can make peace, but there should be no assistance given to the DPRK, until its leadership surrenders to a United Nations Human Rights tribunal for indictment and trial. When he is executed, Kim Jong Il's body should be viewed in Pyongyang, so that the North Korean people realize, they were not abandoned by the world. Then, the DPRK can rebuild under United Nations auspices, and the ROK can continue to liberalize its economy without the financial burden of Korean unification. After a century of occupation, war, forced industrialization and collectivization, man-made famine, coups, massacres, natural disasters, and isolation, the two Koreas can finally join the normal world.
 

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