Asia Times: Reunification fever breaks across S Korea


	June 17, 2000	atimes.com

The Koreas

Reunification fever breaks across S Korea
By Ahn Mi-young

SEOUL - The people of South Korea are euphoric after this week's summit, and their hopes are high that the disdain and distrust that has marred relations with the North is genuinely dissipating.

''We've only taken a first step toward reunification, which is guaranteed to be a long, difficult process,'' South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said at Seoul airport on Thursday, upon returning from the summit. ''But I've come back with confidence that the South and North can cooperate, reconcile and co-exist in a win-win manner that both South and North can gain.''

While there are many voices of caution that say the high expectations have to be tested against how promises are kept, the scene of President Kim Dae-jung and North Korea's Kim Jong-il embracing each other like long-lost friends at the conclusion of the summit was enough to convince many that the meeting was a success.

Indeed, many South Koreans were surprised to witness what appeared to be mutual trust between the two Kims. Kim Dae-jung is known as a peaceful reformer who was persecuted and once imprisoned for advocating such dissident ideas as reunification and democracy. Kim Jong-il is the reclusive leader of the hermetically-sealed communist country who nevertheless hosted his guest with wit and courtesy.

But what most pleased South Korea's Kim was the host's acceptance of his invitation to visit Seoul at an appropriate date. ''A very old man like me has come a long way to meet you,'' Kim Dae-jung told Kim Jong-il. ''Wouldn't it be the traditional Korean way of courtesy to respond by your visiting Seoul?''

The sweetest benefit from the summit is that family reunions are now close to becoming a reality. August 15 was declared a date when some of the 7.67 million separated families in the South and 7.66 million separated families in the North would meet, according to the Ministry of Unification. So far, 148,800 separated families in South Korea have applied to take part in the meeting. Elderly people with many family members in the North are likely to be given priority.

''Whatever the North says and pretends to be, I've witnessed that the Korean people are one people, one culture and one heart missing and loving each other,'' said Kim Dae-jung. ''A forced 55-year divide would never separate forever the South from the North.''

For his part, Kim Jong-il made his debut on the international scene, abandoning his image as a reclusive leader and portraying himself as a responsible member of the international community. The openness that the North Korean leader displayed during the summit may be a sign that he is going to be an ''active and responsible'' leader trying to attract more foreign investment and setting up diplomatic ties with foreign countries, says Sogang University's Kim Young-soo.

For the moment, however, North Korea fever is sweeping the South. The wide-framed sunglasses that Kim Jong-il was wearing when he welcomed Kim Dae-jung have become a craze. South Korean teenagers are flocking to a website, www.posdaq.co.kr, which has a lottery for people to predict the correct date when the two Koreas will be reunified.

South Korean conglomerates are straining to explore new business opportunities in the impoverished but well-educated, low-wage North. Inter-Korean trading volume capped $325 million in 1999. Because of the North's ageing railways, roads, ports and electricity infrastructure, it costs twice or three times more for South Korean businessmen to transport goods or materials to North Korea than to China, according to a survey of 130 South Korean traders with business interests in North Korea.

Economists say the bill for reconstructing North Korean infrastructure will be as huge as 73 trillion won over the next 10 years. At the same time, finance experts say a hurried rebuilding of the North would pose a potential burden on the South, because its chaebol - business conglomerates - are highly indebted and cannot afford to spend a mound of cash.

(Inter Press Service)

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