Opposition to Korean reunification
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Opposition to Korean reunification (Korean: 통일반대론; Hanja: 統一反對論; lit. 'Theory of opposition to unification') means opposing the unification of North Korea and South Korea, and supporting the current state in which they exist as separate states.
There are various perspectives on opposing reunification. A non-mainstream view is based on post-nationalism and pacifism, hoping that North Korea and South Korea will sign a peace treaty and establish diplomatic relations.[1][2] Meanwhile, mainstream opposition is held by North Korean nationalists and South Korean nationalists who argue that South and North are hostile nations.
History
Following the German reunification in 1990, concerns over the astronomical financial costs of absorbing North Korea grew in South Korea. The debate centered on the "reunification tax" and the massive economic disparity between the two Koreas, which was significantly greater than that of the two Germanies. During this period, public sentiment in South Korea—particularly among younger generations—began to shift from viewing reunification as a moral imperative to seeing it as a severe economic burden. Cultural divergence and a diminishing sense of shared national identity (minjok) further fueled skepticism toward integration.[3][4]
Emma Campbell from the Australian National University argues that the conceptions of South Korean nationalism are evolving among young people and that a new form is emerging that has globalised cultural characteristics.[5] According to Campbell's study, for which she interviewed 150 South Koreans in their twenties, the desire for reunification is declining. However, those who are in favor of a Korean reunification state reasons different from ethnic nationalism. The respondents stated that they only wanted unification if it would not disrupt life in the South or if North Korea achieves economic parity with the South. A small number of respondents further mentioned that they support a "unification on the condition that it did not take place in their lifetime."[5] Campbell argued that her interviews showed that many young South Koreans have no problems to accepting foreigners as part of uri nara (우리나라).[5]: 492
In December 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un officially abandoned the decades-long goal of national unification, defining South–North relations as those between "two hostile states theory". Subsequently, North Korea removed references to peaceful unification and shared ethnicity from its constitution and propaganda.[6] According to the U.S. news website 38 North, North Korea relinquished the "ownership" of Korean nationalism (minjok), similar to East Germany's insistence on a separate nation from West Germany in the 1970s.[7]