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Yes, that's why China is helping N Korean agents hunt down and return the would be refugees. Nah, I doubt even S Korean govt would welcome a reunified korea. T

• igravious 13y ago
  Horseshit. A reunified Korea would be a global economic powerhouse within a generation, anybody with eyes in their skull can see that. And the humanitarian benefits to the entire population of the North would be immense, turmoil and cost be damned.
  • EliRivers 13y ago
    A reunified Korea would be a global economic powerhouse within a generation, anybody with eyes in their skull can see that. Alternatively, combining a modern, hi-tech, highly educated nation of 50 million with a nation of 25 million badly-educated, borderline-starving people, many of whom would never be able to adjust, would cripple the South Korean economy for two generations. South Korea is an economic powerhouse now. Introducing an extra 50% population of which the vast majority are skilled only in subsistence-level farming with tools other nations abandoned a century ago will not be economically helpful. Maybe if South Korea was at the stage of development in which vast numbers of unskilled labourers underpinned the economy, it would be, but they aren't.
    • moocowduckquack 13y ago
      would cripple the South Korean economy for two generations. Firstly, that is a nonsensical figure. On what basis do you make a prediction that Korea would take two generations to recover from unification? It has been split up for only slightly longer than that and if you look to history, entire empires have come and gone in the timespan of two generations. Also, it just sounds like more of the same that was said by people about the reunification of Germany.
      • EliRivers 13y ago
        Very obviously a nonsense figure, would you say? Really, really obviously a nonsense figure with no evidence, wouldn't you say? Really, REALLY obviously? Funny coincidence too, presenting the timescale in terms of generations, just like in the parent post? I wonder if perhaps that's deliberate... I deliberately echoed the post I was responding to, but increased it, to illustrate that the original statement was devoid of evidence; in essence, the point was to emphatically and obviously have no evidence of timescale in order to highlight the absurdity of the original post's timescale. You did get the point, though, so I suppose it worked.
        • moocowduckquack 13y ago
          I got the point that your argument was nonsensical, I wasn't aware you were doing it for effect.
  • classicsnoot 13y ago
    What is more, a large section of SKoreans yearn for the reunification. Presumably, there are many in the North that feel the same. This is one of the problems with Governments getting to be the "mouthpiece" for an entire society. Given the way "democracy" works, you tend to get overly solvent, largely isolated ideologues as your representatives. These folks come exclusively from the wealthiest families, and are therefore more inclined to maintain the status quo. Regardless of the posturing of both sides governments, Korea is one country with a grievous split artificially placed between the two by the warring strongmen placed in their positions by superpowers with limited or non-existent information about the native culture. I would also like to point out something we tend to forget here. The losses on both sides (excluding UN/Americans) were immense. The climate, terrain, and technology coincided to create massive casualties and widespread suffering. After a shaky armistice, the US just kind of left, but the war never ceased. We as typical Americans feel as if bygones should be bygones (we tend to be best friends with the countries we fight... afterwords, of course), but we oftentimes fail to take into account the massive list of dead. Anecdote: i was hanging out with a Vietnamese friend from high school and we were (unaccountably) watching Rambo 7 or something (whichever one is the newest/most embarrassing) and we ere both growing increasingly uncomfortable. I kept making comments about cinematography and acting, whilst my buddy just grew more and more aghast. Finally we turned it off. I went on at great length about all the technical reasons i thought the film was poor. Finally, my friend pointed out the amount of Filipino extras that were slaughtered by that 'roided asshole with the wrecked face. And that was it. That was "all" that bothered him. I never really realized before that moment just how callus American storytelling is to the lives of Asians and their struggles. "We" literally killed so many Koreans and Asians in certain battles that left stacks of dead higher than a man stands. Untold numbers were left to die from maneuvers alone. I do not say this to inspire guilt or launch a recriminatory flame war, but i think it is important that we all consider why the North is so damned sullen and obnoxious. The ear of blaming everything on "communism" needs to end.
  • dba7dba 13y ago
    >> turmoil and cost be damned Sure, as long as it's Not in your backyard...