A Future for the World's Last Divided Country

It is such a tragedy that once the same country with the same people, the same ambition, and the same history, the two Koreas have been separated since 1945. One of the most impacted fields from the current divide of both countries is the democratization of the people. Should democratization happen in both countries, it will bring people the rights they did not have before, including voting rights, labor rights, change in culture, and others. One of the comparisons that could be made with the current situation is the German unification in the 1990s. East Germany had a similar situation as North Korea not only politically but also economically before its reunification with West Germany. After its reunification, East Germany managed to achieve its untapped potential, bringing its economy to unprecedented height and giving rights to its people, enabling them to become more blissful. The unification of North and South Korea -- the last divided country in the world -- seems crucial by every conceivable means. But there is one prerequisite for unification: desire. It is a personal belief that the democratization of North Korea will bring out their personal thoughts into actions and more desire for unification and bring peace to both countries. This entry was given the distinction of “First Prize” by the judging panel of the “GAEE Essay Competition on the North Korean Economy” hosted in October 2020 by the Global Association of Economics Education (GAEE) in association with the Youth Forum of North Korea Democratization (YFNKD), and with sponsorship from the Ministry of Unification of the Republic of Korea. For more information about the competition, please visit gaee.org. Contact information of the author(s) can be obtained by contacting education@gaee.org or seoul.sk@gaee.org.The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Global Association of Economics Education. Any content provided by the authors is of their opinion and is not intended to malign any religion, population, country, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone or anything. The Archives on the Perspectives of the Members of the Global Association of Economics Education is a publication of the Global Association of Economics Education (GAEE) to showcase the wide range of perspectives from the student members of GAEE on issues related to the economy. Our curated content comes from a variety of sources, including entries of GAEE-hosted essay competitions, workshops, conferences, etc. All of the contents on the Archives are posted with permission from their authors. The Global Association of Economics Education (GAEE) is a student-led non-governmental not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2017 to promote economics education, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship incubation for students in marginalized communities and developing countries. Based in Boston (USA), GAEE has over fifteen hundred members across ten countries. To learn more about or apply to GAEE, please visit gaee.org or email contact@gaee.org