Realistic and Reasonable Proposal for Korea’s Reunification

Nearly 70 years have passed since Korea’s division. Korea’s division is an indescribable mishap for the Korean people who have lives as a homogeneous nation on the same territory for 5 000 years and a constant threat to the global peace and stability.

Then, how should Korea be reunified?

So far many proposals have been made with regard to it. However, proposals for “unification of systems” and “unification through absorption” are beneath discussion. As the north and the south will not give up their respective ideologies and systems, reunification through absorption of one by the other will inevitably bring a calamity to the Korean nation and tragedy to the region.

The best way is to reunify the country through federation.

President Kim Il Sung (1912-1994) who had devoted all his life for the reunification of Korea made a proposal for founding the Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo (DFRK) as a plan for reunifying the country.

The gist of this plan is to leave the ideologies and systems of the north and the south of Korea intact and, on this basis, realize the reunification of the country and nation by coalescing the two sides to form a federal state.

The plan for founding the DFRK defines the principle of the formation of the unified government of the federal state and the scope of its activities. In this reunified state of a federal type, a supreme national federal assembly will be formed with an equal number of representatives from the north and the south and an appropriate number of representatives of overseas nationals; this assembly should also organize a federal standing committee to guide the regional governments of the north and the south and to administer all the affairs of the federal state. As a reunified state formed with different ideologies and systems left intact and based on one nation and regional autonomy, the DFRK will represent the whole territory of Korea and embrace the entire Korean nation.

The plan also defines the functions and roles of the federal government and regional governments. As the reunified government of the federal state, the supreme national federal assembly and its permanent organ, the federal standing committee, will discuss and decide on the issues of politics, national defence and external relations and other matters of common concern related to the interests of the country and nation as a whole on the principle of impartiality and in line with the nation’s desire for unity, collaboration and reunification, promote the coordinated development of the country and nation, and encourage unity and cooperation between the north and the south in all fields. The reunified government will also respect the social systems and administrative organizations, political parties and groups and people from all walks of life in the north and the south, and prevent one side from imposing its will on the other. Under the leadership of the federal government, the regional governments in the north and the south should follow an independent policy within limits that are consistent with the fundamental interests and demands of the whole nation and strive to narrow the gap between the two sides in all fields and achieve coordinated development of the country and nation.

While referring to the nomenclature of the state to be reunified, President Kim Il Sung proposed naming it the Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo after the name of the first unified state in Korea which is well known around the world and in reflection of the political ideal common to the north and south aspiring after democracy. (Koryo was the first unified state of the Korean nation and existed from 918 to 1392. The name Korea was originated from Koryo.)

The President stressed that the DFRK should be a neutral state that does not join any political and military alliance or bloc.

He also clarified the following ten-point policy to be pursued by the federal state.

The DFRK should; first, adhere to independence in all state activities and pursue an independent policy; second, effect democracy throughout the country and in all areas of society and promote great national unity; third, effect economic cooperation and exchange between the north and the south and ensure the development of an independent national economy; fourth, realize north-south exchange and cooperation in the spheres of science, culture and education and ensure the uniform progress of the country’s science and technology, national culture and arts, and national education; fifth, reopen transport and communications links between the north and the south and ensure the free use of the means of transport and communications all across the country; sixth, ensure a stable livelihood for the entire people including the workers, peasants and other working masses and promote their welfare systematically; seventh, remove the state of military confrontation between the north and the south and form a combined national army to defend the nation against invasion; eighth, defend and protect the national rights and interests of all overseas Koreans; ninth, deal properly with the foreign relations established by the north and the south prior reunification, and coordinate the foreign activities of the two regional governments in a unified manner; and tenth, as a unified state representing the whole nation, develop friendly relations with all the countries of the world and pursue a peaceful foreign policy.

The plan for establishing the DFRK reflects the unanimous aspiration of the Korean people for early reunification of their country and the specific reality of the Korean peninsula in which different ideologies and systems exist in its north and south.

Now not a few federal or confederal states do exist in the world. The typical examples are the United States, Switzerland, Malaysia and Tanzania.

However, the DFRK has characteristics different to the existing federal states.

Unlike other federal states, the DFRK is formed with a homogeneous nation, based on different social systems and composed of one nation and two autonomous regional governments within the framework of a unified state. For this reason, the DFRK has characteristics unique to it in the principle of formation and distribution of power between the unified government and autonomous regional governments.

As President Kim Il Sung advanced the plan for the DFRK, a new phase could be opened for building a federal state in the same nation despite the difference in socio-political system.

The DFRK is the most reasonable form of unified state, in that it prioritizes the common demands and interests of the nation and realizes national unity, transcending the difference of ideology and system.

The international community sincerely wishes that the Korean nation will achieve the independent and peaceful reunification of their country through federation.