South Korean Strategic Thought on Reunification

To Be or Not To Be: South Korea's East Asia Security Strategy and the Unification Quandary

“…South Korea's current emphasis on peaceful coexistence rather than sudden unification reflects Seoul's growing confidence with respect to an impoverished North Korea as well as the increasing public sentiment that ''many South Koreans are satisfied with peace without unification, hoping to avoid the full costs'' of absorbing 28 million hungry North Koreans ''by making more modest payments of assistance''. 54 According to a recent survey, more than eight out of ten South Koreans think unification is an important national agenda. However, almost the same percentage of people are against immediate unification.…”