Reunification

I'm intrigued by your commentary. I have no insights because I am not well informed or educated on the matter. I would actually like a SKn to talk about this. 

i don't really remember where i watched it, i think it was with the asianboss in yt, the interviewee (young SK citizens) said they think the social gap between the countries is already too wide to close ( i keep seeing news on NK refugees wanting to go back) and reunification will be disadvantageous only  for SK. The older generation interviewee said the connection between two countries are slowly dissolving (as the generations that had family separated are slowly dying) so the younger gen didn't see why the 2 countries should reunite.  they're probably hoping NK will somehow just be free from dictatorship and slowly build themselves up from there. 

honestly until you said it i never saw reunification as the ending of the war. IMO, military conscription would still happen even if the 2 countries made up. as third person viewer, i keep seeing SK people being very difficult in letting their 'traditions' go.  

i wonder who is being benefitted with keeping NK in their current situation? 

Ren,  I don't see SK as having US entanglement at all.  The flag waving protestors are supporters of the ex-president Yoon and his compatriots.  They clearly have Totalitarian ambitions - as exhibited by Yoon's attempt to declare martial law, and his ongoing denial of  SK's rule of law.  On this basis SK definitely has much in common with the current US ruling party.  They were using  the whole "The election was righged" argument, recently put to very effective use in the US. Totalitarian tactics; to try to get back into power, (Election conspiracy theorist’s rally in Seoul met with protests: Hankyoreh 16.07.2025).  
In contrast, just 2 weeks ago, nearly 500 SK workers, at a Hyundai battery factory in USA, were arrested by I.C.E.  despite having legal working visas.  Many of those workers have already chosen to return to SK, despite the work being incomplete . The irony is they were there as experts, to train local workers in the specific manufacturing processes, required to run the factory without them. This clearly shows the US and SK are not so strongly allied.

SK has always had stronger ties, both +ve and -ve,  with China and Japan, than it's ever had with the US.

ynymyn Kim Jong Un, the Military Dicator of NK, and the military generals, and their families, are the ones who benefit from division..

Galactic Theory, the concerns about nukes are certainly a factor, but I personally have greater fear of the nukes in the hands of the sociopathic, totalitarian leaders of Israel, Russia, US. [There I go, revealing my stance]
 In a military dictatorship, as is North Korea; it's a pretty standard playbook to use brinkmanship and shows of might, to try to frighten your enemies off. Wasting billions of dollars on weapons "tests"  whilst the North Korean people starve (This is a fact, not in dispute. North Korea is one of the poorest nations in the world) is one of the ways a Military Dictator maintains his power. (Stalinist Russia is one of the playbooks to look at, as a point of reference.  It was never communist, nor is NK). It's like a small dog with a very loud bark.

ynymyn I think you're right that Sk'ers are just hoping NK will resolve itself.  It's still puzzling to me though, that the ever present danger from across the DMZ can be so easily ignored in your day to day life. And reunification as a solution is considered too expensive and irrelevant.  

This idea just really struck me, when it was raised in Tempest. It was another personal reminder for me; that my perspective is mine alone, and EVERYONE has their own unique perspective, which absolutely forms how we view our world.

 I suppose it makes perfect sense really.  Anything you're exposed to on a daily basis, becomes normal. I suppose my normal is so safe and secure , here in Australia, that I just can’t imagine being opposed to something I perceive as a potential solution - to the dreaded  Compulsory Military Service and to the ever present risk of military conflict and death. But yes you're probably right, that conscription would continue anyway.  

In that regard I think Korea would have a MASSIVE cultural shift if it changed its conscription to being, everyone, not just males...

Hi ren 😁

Nice to chat with you again ❤️

...for sk and nk, their war never actually ended,..

Yes that's the reason behind my central thesis. Reunification would end the war ...between North and South Korea.

I don't believe SK is interested in joining with China or Japan or ANY other nation.  But historically, culturally and economically...the ties are much more significant within SK's own region,  than with the US 

.Australia also has a sh@t-load of US military bases. A pretty disturbing one being PINE GAP (if you want to go down a google rabbit hole) ...and a Chinese company owns the Port of Darwin (in Northern Territory Australia). Maybe these factors influence my perspective on the whole "South Korea is a vassal state of the US",  thesis. No-one ever questions Australia's independence. The US having interests in SK and attempting to assert what I see as a militarist, colonialist control over MANY other parts of the world over time,  doesn't necessarily mean those other parts of the world are "controlled" by the US. But again, this is just my perspective.  

On another note .. I'm ialso interested to see if the shift in SK Government to a 'progressive' party, will change or influence the  views of young people, around reunification.