Moon Jae-In’s current government is in power, and has an increased interest in peaceful unification. In policy, the government violated U.N. sanctions on North Korea. Now the government sees North Korea as friendly and is trying to make political moves through dialogue, including discussing denuclearization, resuming tours to Mount Kumgang and the Kaesong Industrial Complex. As a result, special lectures on unification have been held at many universities, and there has been a lot of interest and movement in unification throughout society. For example, there is a club dedicated to unification. Many people think of North Korea as a nation rather than simply our enemy. So people became more interested in unification. As a result, I asked the students of Changwon National University their thoughts on the topic.

Arguments in favor of unification

* Currently, the Korean economy is fluctuating too much due to external factors. It is defined as a peninsula, but it is practically an island. Therefore, if unified, it will become a more independent country with the development of the domestic economy. It would be possible to create a union of Asian countries like the EU.

* I think unification can benefit the economy more than division. The Eurasia railway could be connected to South Korea. It is also beneficial in the long run because unification will create abundance in materials and resources. Anyway just a few decades ago, we were one country and spoke the same language. I don't think it makes sense to stay divided. For the country to become stronger and grow, its national territory needs to be expanded and its population needs to be increased. I think we, as a nation, can become a great power through unification.

* When I was young, I thought of North Korea as an enemy after learning about the Korean War and the Cheonan Fleet incident. However, in order for the nation develop further, I came to believe that we can move to the next level only by solving the big task of unification with North Korea.

* I think peaceful unification is the task of our people, but of course not unification under communism. History is important for a country to exist correctly. It is natural to be one country with North Korea, which has shared roots and history. A sudden unification could put South Korea's economy in trouble. Therefore, a phased unification is necessary.

Arguments against unification

* The current situation in our country is not good economically or politically. I don't like the Moon Jae-In government, which is only trying to solve the issue of unification. So I have a dislike of unification.

* Unification should come someday, but for now, North Korea has not firmly put forward whether it wants to work toward unification. North Korea has only used the unification discussion as a propaganda tool to ease international sanctions.

* It's something that needs to be done someday. However, this government seem to have failed to come up with enough concrete measures to understand the people and win public support. I think stabilizing the domestic society should be the first priority.

* The nation's economy is not good because of the U.S. rate hike. With economic issues on the rise, I think unification is not right. The possibility of gradual unification should be left open. However, if North Korea's raw materials and technology do not have a positive effect on the Korean economy, it is not right to unify the two Koreas.

-By Seo Seong-il, reporter

Seo Seong-il, reporter  qlvmfl99@naver,com

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