{"id":6194,"date":"2018-11-21T09:11:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T14:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/korean\/?p=6194"},"modified":"2018-11-18T09:12:14","modified_gmt":"2018-11-18T14:12:14","slug":"is-reunification-happening-in-the-korean-peninsula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/korean\/is-reunification-happening-in-the-korean-peninsula\/","title":{"rendered":"Is reunification happening in the Korean Peninsula?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is \ud1b5\uc77c(Tong-il<\/strong>: reunification) happening in \ud55c\ubc18\ub3c4(Han-ban-do:<\/strong> the Korean Peninsula)?<\/em><\/p>\n

When I was around 10 years old, I remember I got really scared after listening to the news. The news was about the immediate possibility of invasion by \ubd81\ud55c (Book-han<\/strong>: North Korea). The news showed people frantically stocking up on canned food and \ub77c\uba74(Rah-men<\/strong>: an instant noodle loved by most Koreans) from a grocery store to prepare for the potential emergency. I encouraged my parents to stock up their own emergency food, but my parents *\ub208\u00a0<\/strong>\uae5c\uc9dd <\/strong>\uc548\ud588\ub2e4<\/strong> (Noon-Kam-Jack Ahn Hat Dah<\/strong>: didn\u2019t even flinch.) Now, I guess that kind of news was not the first time they had heard it.<\/p>\n

People often ask me what I think about \ubd81\ud55c(Book-han<\/strong>: North Korea). when I introduce myself coming from\u00a0\ub0a8\ud55c(Nam-han<\/strong>: South Korea). It is such a shame to confess this, but I usually don\u2019t have politically correct smart answers because I hadn\u2019t spent as much time thinking about \ubd81\ud55c(Book-han<\/strong>: North Korea) as I should have had.<\/p>\n

In my defense, \uc815\uce58(Jeong-Chi<\/strong>: politics) is always the last thing I want to talk about. Secondly, North Korea was an incurious topic to me because I didn\u2019t have any personal dots to connect with. None of my grandparents or parents had any \uac00\uc871(ka-jok<\/strong>: family) left in\u00a0North Korea. Thirdly, as most my friends did, North Korea was the country that I mainly learned about from school. Or I learned facts from \ub300\uc911\ub9e4\uccb4(Dae-joong-mae-chae<\/strong>: mass media) that many people left their \uc774\uc0b0 <\/strong>\uac00\uc871 (Ee-san-ka-jok: <\/strong>separated families due to the Korean war) in North Korea. It is quite poignant to think about these people who can\u2019t see their loved ones after all these years.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

Image by flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

It is getting close to almost 70 years since \uc721\uc774\uc624 (Yuk-ee-oh\/6.25: <\/strong>the Korean War occurred on 6\/25\/1950). Currently, \ub0a8\ubd81\ud1b5\uc77c(Nam-Buk-Tong-il:<\/strong> the reunification between the North and South) is the most frequently spoken word in South Korea. Not only are people talking about it, but also the signs of reunification are emerging in everyday life. For example, I became a big fan of TV talk shows having a group of\u00a0\ud0c8\ubd81\ubbfc(Tal-buk-min<\/strong>: North Korean defectors) as the main guests. They outspokenly talk about the \ubb38\ud654<\/strong> (Moon-hwa:\u00a0<\/strong>culture) and real life in North Korea. One guest, married to a man from South Korea after *\ud0c8\ubd81(Tal-book: <\/strong>escaping from North Korea), shared her love story. Another guest, who was the daughter of *\uace0\uc704\uc9c1 \uc7a5\uad00 (Goh-wee-jick-jang-Kwan: a high-ranking officer),\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0burst into tears saying how much she misses her family and feels terrible about what she did to her family by escaping by herself and so on. Many interesting and unbelievably heart-breaking, but genuine life stories of real people are remembered in my heart.<\/p>\n

While I watch the TV show, it has come to my mind that \ud0c8\ubd81\ubbfc\u00a0(Tal-buk-min: <\/strong>North Korean defectors) could have been one of my neighbors even my \uce5c\uad6c(Chin-goo<\/strong>: friends). They look like me. They may use *\uc0dd\uc18c\ud55c(Sang-so-han: <\/strong>unfamiliar and not commonly used) words with an accent, but they speak the same language as I do. Most of all, it surprises me when they share deep-rooted Korean culture despite a several decades of separation.<\/p>\n

Some predict the insidious cultural blending will bring a more harmonious reunification sooner and I perhaps think reunification may have already started without a big announcement. I am optimistic that reunification will happen in my lifetime.<\/p>\n

Glossary:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n