'If left divided, Korean Peninsula will never be at peace'

David Maxwell, senior fellow at the Global Peace Foundation and vice president at the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, speaks during an interview after the forum on "The 70th Anniversary of the U.S.-ROK Alliance ― Onward Toward a Free and Unified Korea" on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 17 (local time). The event was cohosted by the Global Peace Foundation, Action for Korea United, Alliance for Korea United and One Korea Foundation. Courtesy of Global Peace Foundation

Experts share views on why unification, not denuclearization, should be ultimate goal

By Jung Min-ho

WASHINGTON ― While denuclearization and security issues are dominating the news about North Korea, the vision for peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula now appears out of date. Politicians barely talk about it as a serious possibility and when they do, no one seems to listen.

Such pessimism has prompted those who fear another possible armed conflict on the peninsula to find alternative solutions, such as seeking peaceful coexistence between the two Koreas. Unification, cynics say, this hope is not feasible and that the time is long overdue for South Korea and the United States to offer a peace deal that the North would accept.

During a forum on the 70th anniversary of the Seoul-Washington alliance on Capitol Hill on May 17 (local time), experts said such ideas are even more unrealistic. If left divided, they said, the two governments on the peninsula will always remain exposed to the risk of violent clashes, given the political and legal conditions of the North.

"It sounds nice. However, that (coexistence idea) is based on the assumption that the North wants to peacefully coexist. As long as North Korea has nuclear weapons and given what we know, its constitution, party charter and history, they are going to seek domination of the peninsula," retired Col. David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, a think tank, said during an interview.

"So I think peaceful coexistence is really a fantasy … I understand why people say that should be pursued, but North Korea under the Kim family will always be a threat and, as long as they exist, South Korea will never be at peace."

Under the 10 Principles of the One-Ideology System, which serves as the supreme law of North Korea, all North Koreans must give their all in the struggle to unify the peninsula under their rule. It is mistaken to say that the regime is developing nuclear weapons only to survive; they are the means ― not the final aim ― of accomplishing that written objective, Maxwell, who also serves as a senior fellow at the Global Peace Foundation (GPF), said.

His view was echoed by other attendees at the event cohosted by four nonprofit groups ― the GPF, Action for Korea United, Alliance for Korea United and One Korea Foundation.

Lee Hyun-seung, a former sergeant in the North Korean Army who escaped to South Korea in 2014, said, when he was in the military, he was called a unification soldier ― as his father was called by the same term decades before him.

"Every soldier who joins the military is a unification soldier. This means that they (the regime) have never changed the goal: unification by force," Lee said during a panel discussion.

Denuclearization, an issue that has distracted the world's attention from all the other critical issues regarding North Korea in recent years, has created the illusion that it will somehow lead to peace on the peninsula. History suggests there is no causal relationship between the two.

Over the past seven decades, North Korea killed hundreds of thousands of people, including civilians, in the war on the peninsula (for unification), sent armed agents to assassinate leaders in Seoul, abducted a commercial airplane, attacked an island near the inter-Korean border and committed numerous other atrocities ― all without using nuclear weapons.

This is why unification, not denuclearization, should be not only the policy objective of both Seoul and Washington but also the top priority in that joint effort, according to Seo In-teck, president of GPF Korea.

"Maintaining the status quo on the peninsula could be possible and it may seem even more beneficial than unifying with North Korea over the next five to 10 years," Seo said. "But how about 50 to 100 years later?"

Given that the regime continues to build up its nuclear arsenal and develop other weapons at a time when South Korea is facing a dramatic population decline, the fragile peace may not last and the status quo cannot be maintained, he added.

Participants in a panel discussion listen to their moderator, David Maxwell, back row left, senior fellow at the Global Peace Foundation and vice president at the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, at the forum on "The 70th Anniversary of the U.S.-ROK Alliance ― Onward Toward a Free and Unified Korea" on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 17 (local time). Courtesy of Global Peace Foundation

Korean unification for world peace

The world today is in crisis. Russia's war in Ukraine has continued for more than a year. The situation in the Taiwan Strait looks more precarious than ever before, with Beijing flexing its economic and military muscles in the region in an intensifying U.S.-China rivalry.

With the world increasingly splitting into two blocs, the Korean Peninsula appears to be on the frontline of the hegemony competition, which is resembling the Cold War.

Under the current geopolitical circumstances, the peaceful unification of the peninsula ― or even just a sincere effort to pursue what appears to be a far-fetched dream ― could have a profound impact on the world, Chung Kyung-young, an expert on security and international relations at Hanyang University in Seoul, said.

"It would send a powerful message to the world," he said. "It would be historical and affect world affairs such as the war in Ukraine and the Cold War climate forming."

In his speech, Seo also emphasized the significance of the vision for Korean unification, saying Seoul and Washington can and should mutually support the pursuit and achievement of forming a free and unified Korea that can benefit the region and world.

With the economic miracle it accomplished following the devastating Korean War (1950-53), Koreans inspired the world in a way no other country did. They can do so again, he said, but this time they cannot do it without the people in the North.