Pretoria - If there's one topic always on the agenda for South Korea it's North Korea and unification.
Reports of North Korea's nuclear missile testing dominated headlines around the world last month, but such actions seem to inspire those striving for unification of the Korean Peninsula to work even harder to achieve this goal.
They include the "fellows" at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) and the Secretariat of the National Unification Advisory Council whose task it is to promote and plan for the day a single Korea becomes a reality.
The two Koreas were divided along the 38th parallel of latitude as spoils of World War II, with the US responsible for the administration of the south while the then-USSR took control of the North.
The division was aggravated by the invasion of the South by the North in 1950 leading to the Korean War.
Three years later, as part of an armistice agreement, a 250km long, 4km wide strip of land known as the Demilitarized Zone (or DMZ) was established as a buffer between South and North Korea.
Despite serious discord, South Korea remains committed to peaceful unification and, for the past 25 years, KINU has studied North Korean affairs, given advice on government policies and considered what life in a unified Korea may be like for those from both sides of the divide.
The design of the unification plan is constantly updated and current work includes means to strengthen capacity in the economic powerhouse that is South Korea in the rebuilding of a united Korea. Key to the project is shaping perceptions of Koreans on unification, feelings which are adversely affected by actions to their North.
Dr Sung-Yoon Chung of KINU's North Korean studies division said in Seoul that the priority was to gain the support of Korean people for unification and KINU conducted an annual survey to monitor perceptions about unification.
Tension between North and South Korea escalates due to nuclear tests and other threats, which, he said, had a negative effect on feelings of unification of the two vastly different countries.
"I believe we are in a transitional era for unification, one in which the consideration of Koreans has shifted. The greater the tension, the less keen people are on unification, and the more they consider the cost for South Korea and the possible impact unification may have on their lives," Chung said.
But, despite this, KINU remains convinced that unification rather than division is the way to overcome tension and risks to stability in the region, and achieve lasting peace.
The ideal of unification turns one's thoughts to Germany which last week celebrated its reunification. But, says KINU director, Dr Jong-Ho Shin, while there may be commonalities, the Korean situation was aggravated by the Korean War with its heavy casualties, and its particular geo-politics.
"For East and West Germany unification came overnight with the fall of the Berlin Wall. But before the collapse, the two sides had communicated and exchanged a lot; people living in the East saw West German television and shared much in common and - importantly - there were no military tensions," he said.
Germany also benefited hugely from the support of international powers and there was consensus on what a unified Germany would look like.
For Chung, too, the impact of the Korean War is the key difference in the two situations. "Of course, Germany and Korea both experienced ideological wars, but Korea went through an invasion and war between the two sides.
"The tragedy of the Korean War (from 1950 to 1953) left bad memories for Korean people and that generation in particular harboured very strong feelings against North Korea."
Dr Gyeong Seob Oh, deputy director of North Korean human rights studies at KINU, believes the need for unification of the Korean peninsula is now "unprecedented" but that it cannot come through the efforts of Korea alone.
"The history of the division has always revolved around international powers and the geo-political location of the Korean peninsula, which does not allow us alone to make a decision.
"So while the main players of unification should be North and South Korea, if other countries do not understand the need, or support and co-operate with us, we will never achieve unification," he said. In particular he cited China, the US, Japan and Russia, but the support South Korea is seeking extends to the entire international community.
North Korea's nuclear issue is the "first and foremost" obstacle to unification and it should therefore be tackled by the international community which would ultimately benefit from regional stability, security and peace in the region, said Shin.
Dr Ju Hwa Park, of the Unification policy studies division, said one way KINU tried to gauge feelings of North Koreans towards unification was to interview defectors, of whom there are now about 30 000 who have sought a new life in South Korea. Park sees "a high chance" that North Koreans would opt for unification and a share of the wealth and opportunities of South Korea, and that "if the two countries themselves were determined, no country should stand in the way of unification".
In the past, summits were held between leaders of the two countries but for now, said Oh, there was "nothing". The last contact was last year around the DMZ, but since the fourth nuclear test in January, and recently the fifth, there has been no official contact, he said.
Yet KINU remains optimistic. "Why not?" said Oh. "I believe there are two ways to achieve change. Ideally, North Korea gives up and embraces the openness and innovation of South Korea and adopts democracy. That is the ideal and optimal way to peaceful unification.
The second way, he said, is that the North Korean leader (Kim Jong-un) and his government are overthrown because the way he operates, there is a slim chance of unification. "The only other way is to replace (Kim) with a new political power," he said. "We try to remain optimistic; there is some hope."
This comes in two forms: first from members of the international community pushing back against the North Korean government, cutting off funding and weakening the continuation of the Kim regime.
The second is through the flow of information. In the past there was little information in North Korea about other countries. But, today the controlling system has been weakened and communication is reaching residents.
As people in North Korea are exposed to information about the world outside, this can have an impact on their perspective on their government, he said.
Chung sees sanctions against North Korea as having a powerful impact, referring to the effect of sanctions against South Africa during apartheid and in the decision in 1969 to renounce nuclear weapons and he hoped for a similar outcome in North Korea. In a subsequent interview with Tae Oh Kwon, secretary-general of the South Korean National Unification Advisory Council, similar themes emerged.
"Many people think that the Cold War ended in the 20th century; that is true if you look at it from the global perspective, but that is not the case if you take the Korean perspective. We believe even after the end of the Cold War, the Cold War on the Korean peninsula became worse with tensions high, so we believe we are still in the Cold War era."
While South Korea has rebuilt itself into a democratic, open and economically vibrant society, North Korea driven by a communist philosophy had not fared as well, according to Kwon. "Unification and release" of the North Korean people remains a government priority of the South. A big responsibility of the Republic of Korea's president is to do our best to achieve unification," he said. But, it is not easy.
"To achieve unification, the international community must get together to take power away from Kim, abandon nuclear weapon development aims, and bring about change in North Korea."
To help achieve this pressure, the National Unification Council has more than 3 000 committee members and 20 000 supporters living in 117 countries who are working actively to do just that, and create the environment necessary for unification and peace on the peninsula.
"I believe it is very meaningful if the heads of state or foreign affairs ministers meet their counterparts to have a dialogue over North Korea and unification, but more meaningful is the meeting and communication between people of various countries to get their support and encouragement," he said.
But Kwon recognises it is not going to be an easy road ahead. "There is a clear gap between the language, culture and physical conditions between North and South Korean people, borne out by meeting defectors. "We witness how they (North Koreans) struggle to get accustomed to the new environment of South Korea, so we can anticipate what kind of problems we may face after unification. Although Koreans speak the same language meanings are different, and it is clear even their way of thinking is different. We can see how many other things have changed due to the break and conflict between the two Koreas.
"It is also clear there is a big economic gap between the two countries and when some experts did calculations on the cost of unification, it may be anything between $600 billion (R8.1bn) and $1 trillion over 10 years to build infrastructure and facilities in the North similar to what we have in South Korea.
Tae Oh Kwon, secretary-general of the South Korean National Unification Advisory Council, with a map illustrating the presence of National Unification Council members who support the goal of unification of South and North Korea.
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