Reunification of the Korean Peninsula: Matters Arising

Abstract

The study examines the prospect and challenges of the reunification of the Korean Peninsula. Before the last fifty years, the Korean Peninsula was recognized as a unified and autonomous city whose citizens have enjoyed decades of historical and economic ties until foreign influence now divided them along ideological leaning. The ideological rivalry between the United State and the Former Soviet have played a significant role in entrenching the division. The paper attempt a SWOT examination of the possibilities of the reunification and how this can be attained with minimal effort from both of the divide. Data were gathered mainly from secondary sources and a conflict approach/variant of the regional integration theory was adopted to underpin the study. Findings indicate that foreign influence have been the major factor in creating and sustaining the division between the North and South, and that the economic sanction on the North Korea if not lifted by the US can mar the reunification efforts. Considering the development and market integration experiences by other South East Asian countries like Singapore, China Malaysia and Taiwan, there is hope that former Korean Peninsula will achieve total reunification and economic integration. The study recommends amongst others the need for US and China to reduce its overbearing influence in the region and allow both government (North & South) to take their destinies into their hands.