North Korea and South Korea are two countries of the same language and species, but looking back at history, they have been one country for a long time, but in modern times, different ideas and different systems have created divisions, so that they have not been unified until now.
As time passed, the relationship between the two countries seemed to be getting farther and farther apart, and North Korea announced that "it is no longer a homogeneous relationship" and abolished the relevant institutions for inter-Korean affairs, pushing the situation very tense.
In fact, there were intimate moments between them, and there were long negotiations on reunification, and plans were drawn up. Kim Il-sung, the main founder of North Korea, even thought of the name of the country after reunification, but in the end he did not succeed.
Why, then, did the DPRK and the ROK split with such deep ties, and why did they fail to reunify?
Both of these countries have historical origins, with North Korea dating back a little earlier.
In 1392, the Goryeo general Yi Sung-gye seized power and successfully established himself as king, and his first step was to establish good relations with China. At that time, the Central Plains Dynasty was the Ming Dynasty, and in order to gain support, Li Chenggui sent an envoy to ask Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, to rule on the country name.
Zhu Yuanzhang believed that "North Korea" was an ancient name, and "Asahi Distinct" had the meaning of the Ming Dynasty, so he gave these two words as the name of the country and continued to use them until 1897.
When Kim Il Sung established power in the northern part of the peninsula in 1948, he adopted the name "North Korea" and the full name was "Democratic People's Republic of Korea".
The Korean "Han" was first seen in the "Samhan" tribal alliance period, and the country was named in 1897, when Japan had infiltrated the peninsula, and just 13 years later, Japan directly annexed Korea.
Also in 1948, South Korea, known as the "Republic of Korea", was established in the southern part of the peninsula, and Syngman Rhee became its first president.
Since the day of its founding, the DPRK and the ROK have been in opposition because of ideology: the Soviet Union is behind the DPRK, and the United States is behind the ROK.
However, these two great powers were the leaders of socialism and capitalism respectively, and the two forces pulled and collided, and by 1950 they had completely broken out and started a major war.
Kim Il-cost wanted to reunify the peninsula by force, but with the intervention of the Americans, he almost lost even the northern side.
As a neighbor of the DPRK, for the sake of its own territorial and strategic security and to help its brothers in the socialist camp, China chose to enter the DPRK and participate in the war, pushing the front back to the 38th parallel.
The war was so painful that after three years of fighting, both sides found that they could not fight, so an armistice agreement was signed, and the demarcation line returned to the original point.
In the time that followed, both the DPRK and the ROK strictly defended the 38th parallel, at the cost of the separation of the flesh and blood of hundreds of people, creating indescribable regrets.
Although the high-level leaders of the two countries were also vigilant at the end of the battle, after the battle calmed down, they also understood that it would not be beneficial for each other to continue such hostilities, so they extended their hands to each other through various channels, hoping for peaceful reunification.
At the 6th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1980, Kim Il-sung, the first leader of the DPRK, proposed the name of the reunified country as the "Democratic Federal Republic of Korea" and a 10-point policy for the reunification of the country.
It is worth noting that Kim Il Sung's vision is that after reunification, the two sides can still retain different systems and governments, but after becoming the same country, there will be no restrictions on economic exchanges and personnel exchanges between the two sides.
Kim Il Sung pointed out in particular that there will be no difference in status between the two governments, and that they will not and cannot pursue the interests of only one side when it comes to foreign affairs.
Since then, North Korean officials have repeatedly publicly promoted this federal system, which has promoted overt and covert exchanges between the two sides.
Under the constant appeals of the people on both sides, Kim Chong-il, the second-generation leader of the DPRK, and Kim Tae-chung, then president of the ROK, held a meeting.
When interviewed by reporters, the two top leaders said that they would independently negotiate and mediate on the issue of national reunification. At that time, many people thought that the reunification of the peninsula was just around the corner.
But as we all know, the subsequent historical development has not been realized until now. Why is this so?
The reasons are complex and multifaceted, and the ideologies, systems, governing philosophies, and core strata of both sides are different. Although Kim Il Sung proposed that different systems could exist after reunification, it was too difficult to achieve them.
The DPRK and the ROK were able to build the country with their hands behind them, which also means that many things cannot be decided by themselves alone. The United States, which controls South Korea, only hopes for a reapable client state, but does not want a strong "Democratic Federal Republic of Korea" to emerge.
The United States is stationing troops in South Korea under the banner of "guarding against North Korea," and behind the scenes, it is even more using South Korea as a springboard to intervene in the situation in East Asia.
If the peninsula is reunified, the objects that need to be "guarded against" are gone, and the "Democratic Federal Republic of Korea" has enough military strength to protect itself, then there will be no reason for American GIs to appear on this land again.
If the nails on the peninsula are removed, it will be very difficult for the United States to disrupt East Asia by relying on Japan alone, and there may be a chain reaction at that time, and even Japan will expel the United States, which will seriously deal a blow to the global hegemony of the United States.
Therefore, do not look at the beautiful words of the United States, it will never allow the reunification of the peninsula.
Moreover, even if there is no external force, how should the powers be divided after the merger? Kim Il Sung said that the status is the same, and it is impossible to go to that point completely unanimous. The "federal system" is best known in the United States, and are the states of the United States aligned in power? Obviously, no.
If the DPRK and the ROK merge, one side will definitely dominate the other. They themselves have estrangement, and if the bias is too obvious, it is undoubtedly a tipping point for contradictions.
And if we want to be consistent, we have to be the same in the economy, right? The rich side will definitely have opinions in their hearts if they want to support the poor side for a long time.
When the flow of people is unimpeded, the poor side will certainly continue to migrate to the rich side, and in the long run, the stability of the regime will be shaken, and the rulers will take measures.
There will be great differences in other diplomacy, statements on international events, the number of troops to maintain, and so on, and if you don't do it well, it is easy for a civil war to break out.
If the United States can implement a federal system, that is also the result of fighting the Civil War, and if the peninsula is merged and then fought, then the situation will be difficult to control. Some people may say that after the end of the Cold War, didn't Germany and Yemen also reunify?
However, there is a big economic difference between the east and west of Germany, and the current political scene in Germany is also showing a trend of being dominated by the former West Germany. Yemen is even more so, where war broke out soon after a short period of reunification, and it is still a powder keg.
The merger of these two countries is premised on the willingness of one side to give up its independent status, and the background is the collapse of the Soviet Union, and now the United States, which can influence North Korea and South Korea, is still alive and well, and the foundation is completely different.
Therefore, under external and internal pressure, it will be very difficult for the DPRK and the ROK to usher in reunification in a short period of time, and it will be up to us to see whether there will be such earth-shattering changes in the future.