Problems of north-south korean unification: official rhetoric against political reality

Although North and South Korea have been declaring the goal of uniting in official and public policies for several decades, the reunification has not taken place yet. In reality, the reunification of the states has not made much progress, though the goal of unification was expressed and declared by all of the leaders of the two countries since the split of Korea in 1948 till now. Therefore, the question arises as the problem of the Master's thesis - why the North-South Korean reunification does not occur if the goal of the unification is still supported and promoted in the public and official policy of both countries. The purpose of the work is to find out what obstacles arise for both Koreas to reunite. Object of the work - Korean unification opportunities and problems. The theoretical assumptions about the obstacles that prevent the achievement of the goal based on the theories of realism and constructivism. With reference to assumptions made, two hypotheses are formulated that the reunification has not proceeded due to both Koreas rational consideration about security, balance of power. Furthermore, the cause could be that ethnic identity is no longer seen the same for all Koreans. A two-part case study has been made. The first part of the study analyzes official North and South Korean leaders' policy on the issue of unification, what efforts have been made, what are the similarities, differences, and emerging problems between the concepts of each country are being determined. The second part of the study is on the public policy on unification. Having analyzed the official and public policy of Koreas it was found that the most important and crucial questions for North and South Korea are security, survival, as the states constantly faces a security dilemma. It forces them to examine what scenarios are the most relevant to them in the official policy and what kind of rhetoric is beneficial to choose in public policy. As a result, both countries are proposing their own unifying formulas, which lack common points and are fundamentally different. Moreover, the fact that North and South Korea keep offering formulas with little change in content, show that the declared goal of peaceful union is not sincere. Thus, in reality, North Korea would like to communize South Korea, while South Korea would have hoped for a regime collapse and unification through absorption scenario. Nevertheless, both Koreas in reality have bigger intentions than just to reunite. North Korea seeks to maintain the status quo of its state and regime by reducing the threat posed to it by the presence of US troops and forces on the peninsula. South Korea wishes to maximize its security by reaching North Korea’s nuclear disarmament. However, this premise is lacking in explanation as to why the idea of maintaining the reunification discourse is based on the achievement of these goals. Having analyzed the official and public content it was also revealed that the national identity is no longer seen as a general only partially. In political rhetoric, the common ethnic identity is presented as one of the main arguments for unification, which is constantly emphasized. But at the same time, studies have shown that fewer South Korean citizens see that the North Koreans are the same identity, and South Korea has faced a new phenomenon in the last decade - South Korean nationalism. As a result, it can be assumed that at least in South Korea the disappearance of ethnic identity is a common cause and serious challenge to unification. After all, the Master thesis revealed that North and South Korea rhetoric in public speeches and official policy documents are different from political reality, and the declared desire to reunite, in fact, only serve to achieve other goals. For these reasons, both Koreas lack an internal interest in achieving a reunification unless it is executed in each imaginable scenario