Korea would be united in a year if the US would allow the people to come together. Divide and rule is an old imperialist trick - our British empire was built by such means.
3
Reunification? The only way that happens is IF Trump gets totally duped. Which is probable, but not highly. Even that sort of a mistake would be recalled within minutes. The back-peddling would be so furious, it could power all of N.Korea's electrical needs for several months.
Otherwise, no way the US gives up its military stake in S.Korea. Not with Kim and the military still in charge of the DPRK.
The Pentagon has too much invested in the status quo. undermining Kim is their only viable solution in the foreseeable future. Trump dalliances with Kim are nothing but show boating, and part of his TV reality show scripting.
Stay tuned for the next episode...made ya watch!
1
Perhaps when the present North Korean dictator passes away there will be a short window for reconciliation, if all the right steps are taken. I suggest that offering a Peace Treaty to replace the Armistice would be one element. But then again, anyone who attains power in North Korea is likely to hold onto it securely, which voids reconciliation. But I can hope about a future that would occur after my demise.
1
Kenzo, you prove my point about the naïveté. We can name one developing country with barely capitalist quasi-statist quasi-socialist system... and the poverty there. Capitalism for all its ills has enabled people to achieve unprecedented economic wealth in many countries.
Aaron and Jersey girl, I struggle to name one communist utopia. The point is that people can dream up unicorns, but when it meets reality and human fallibility, you categorically impose calamity upon its people.
You can say “oh but it’s just an idea,” but its many implementations show that it’s a hopeless idea when it meets the reality of human greed (despite all its generosity, too), ambition (at the expense of others’ status), and so on. Totalitarianism somehow comes packaged with “communist revolutions,” and we need to be realistic and understand why.
1
"Literal reunification, defined as the abrupt political merger of the two Koreas, has mostly passed into a prelapsarian dream of peace activists."
Hardly! The two will reunify within ten years, and Kim–who is trusted by 80% of southerners–will be head of state while the ROK leader will be head of government.
The centripetal forces are powerful nationalism, support from China and Russia, and the rejuvenation of the peninsular economy when it is linked to Russian oil and gas pipelines, the Trans Eurasian Railway and Russia's East.
1
@Godfree Roberts
That's a bold prediction, one that's not held up by history. Will the US pull out their forces for this to happen?
1
@Godfree Roberts: That number seems to tie into the hopefulness that South Koreans had vis a vis the summit between Trump and Kim. Now that it's clear there is no rapprochement and Kim is once again doing missile flexing, I doubt the number is anywhere near that high.
"The term used for that first wave, kotjebi, translates literally as “flower swallow,” after the scavenging motions of homeless children in the North."
The author could have explained this better - the translation "swallow" refers to the bird, not the verb. Referencing "scavenging motions" implies it's the latter, when it's meant to evoke small birds scrounging for crumbs. New Yorkers can draw parallels to your neighborhood pigeon.
And for the avoidance of doubt, "flower" is also not a verb here.
13
Perhaps the two Koreas are symbolic of the plight of humanity in a global sense. Is the human population destined to one day be a united society? If so, under what type of government? Will democracy and freedom prevail, or will society succumb to totalitarian tyrannical rule? What should we be doing today to ensure that future generations will enjoy freedom?
2
Cute. Perhaps the Koreans themselves can achieve their unification. It is a lot more probable than trying to deal with Trump who is anything but a concerned, honest, legitimate "player". He isn't going to get a Nobel (that was the best joke of last year) and he is totally outclassed by both N and S Korea.
This TV format, though, may be right up his alley - but only if it's a fake game show or licentious "beauty contest".
The sympathy that Trump was trying to use to garner votes - the retrieval of American casualties from the Korean Conflict - is failing as is everything else he does. The Koreas would best do this by themselves, THEIR way. After all, they are the same people separated by mutually hostile governments. Yet another example of what totalitarianism can do to ruin civilization. Hear that, Trump?!
3
I see that comments from people who live thousands of miles away from North Korea in complete safety are adamant about human rights violations. Fine, but maybe, just possibly, if you lived within range of the reported tens? of thousands of North Korean artillery aimed at you, perhaps accommodation might seem a bit more reasonable.
Moreover, if you were a South Korean you could be forgiven for believing that the US will likely not want to trade Los Angeles for Seoul and engage in a classic "war on mainland Asia" debacle.
So given these realities, perhaps less confrontational means of achieving a rapprochement with the North, such as this show, bears some support and benefit of the doubt.
8
Yes, I agree with the show's producer, Kong Hyosoon, that it would have been all to easy for E. Tammy Kim to write off the show as drivel. But in these times of overwhelming negativity, it was refreshing to read Kim's gentle yet balanced appraisal of "Now on My Way to Meet You". There are many paths to reconciliation and as unlikely as it may seem, this show may be one of them.
5
Love K dramas, comedies and horror on Netflix. Hopefully we'll see this show soon!
4
There are other signs of Korean unification in the media. The U.S. tour of the Korean boy-band BTS seems to embrace this trend. Their lyrics and music videos seem to contain veiled references to the 'Korean self-determination' movement, as well as other facets of everyday life. They also gave an unusual speech (for a band) at the United Nations on 25 SEP 2018.
Past BTS albums have also made vague references to Korean self-determination. One of the most interesting was the use of Munchhausen syndrome in a story line (search 'BTS Munchhausen' for examples). For those unfamiliar with Munchhausen Syndrome, it is a medical diagnosis (or excuse) that might be used when someone cannot find a job. Under a Communist regime where jobs are controlled by the State, it might mean a person who has been black-balled for political reasons, and can't find work. In those cases a diagnosis of Munchhausen Syndrome would provide a face-saving way be excused from work and to collect medical benefits from the State.
An interesting analysis of their lyrics is given in a podcast by the Zurich-based Jungian Analyst Dr. Murray Stein, from the website at www.speakingofjung.com: "Episode 44: Murray Stein, Ph.D. ~ Apr. 14, 2019 ~ A Jungian interpretation of the new album by BTS, Map of the Soul: Persona"
How about Buddhism?
I see from the photo that they've recycled the set from Hee Haw!
6
Good to know South Koreans can turn out mawkish TV just like any other nation. When will the series be aired in the U.S. ? Could be a nice change of pace from the “DC escapades”.
1
The popularity and longevity of shows like this, however shallow they may be, must be an indication that there is enough interest/desire among the public for some sort of unification. It's just sad that the South needs the American permission even to engage the North; it is effectively an American colony. Maybe that'll change if the current NK-US talk succeeds and the US butts out of the peninsula, lock stock and barrel.
The word 'kotjebi', btw, originated from kochevnik, the Russian word for nomad, not from the motion of homeless children, according to the mainstream view.
5
There will never be a reunification. For that to happen South Korea would have to publicly admit defeat as North Korea would have to proclaim victory. The Kim Dynasty, and it's varied hanger on's, will never relinquish power.
So the closest we'll come to, at least for several decades, will be some kind of confederation as mentioned. That is the only way to chisel away at the North's stranglehold on their populace. Just like what happened with China. Even then it's be a precarious situation.
3
I am dismayed how cavalier we can be about the daily atrocity of being pinned under in a totalitarian, mendacious, torturing regime. Shallow capitalistic consumerism is still far, far superior.
Communism is evil. Little in life is so simple, but it bears remembering sometimes. Having been lulled in so many years of Pax Americana, we seem to have lost our compass.
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@C
Communism is not evil, it’s an idea. North Korea is not communist, it’s a dictatorship.
But why do I bother?
10
@C
take a walk through India and tell us how great capitalism works there . Nothing evil at all about capitalism in India, right?
All those children starving on the streets, some intentionally maimed by handlers (putting out of their eyes to blind them is the favorite), all those millions with not even potable water, all the misogyny and terrible abuse of women and children. That is all communist propaganda right?
Folks C is what they call a user of "selective evidence".
He only considers the evidence that supports his pre-conceived opinion.
5
Please name a communist country.
2
Normalization of an "enemy" in pop culture is more powerful than any politician's pronouncements. It's hard for governments to keep their citizens hating a people who seem to like what you like: music, stories, family, food, and even silliness. I don't doubt shows like this one are cementing the chances for real change.
15
Many years ago, I met an actor from East Germany who told me a long story about how he escaped to West Germany after years of getting into trouble with the Stasi. But then after living in the West for two years, he was so disgusted with the shallow consumerism of the people that he went back to the East.
It's sad that these poor North Korean women braved death to escape from totalitarianism only to find themselves primped up like show dogs under capitalism. I imagine there will be defectors who view the plastic surgery spectacle of South Korean society with a fair amount of disgust and decide to return North. While I'm certainly not advocating any nostalgia for living under a totalitarian regime, I also realize that the West has become a soulless exercise in neoliberal branding - and women are often the worst purveyors/victims.
North or South. East or West. Are these our only two options now?
51
@Elsie
I often find I feel the same when I see snippets of American newsy-type shows with frighteningly made-up, physically altered and seemingly brain-dead men and women behind the camera who shuck for that same imploding consumerism. Woof woof. And it works.
4
Ah, pop culture dragging political reality into a change. This is television made for Trump. A cartoonish mien begging for a Marvel comic book.
1