This week’s political civic issue will be a little bit different than those done previously. Instead of focusing on our country’s politics and government, this week I will mostly be addressing the politics of two important countries, both of which who have been at war with one another for over sixty years: North Korea and South Korea.
The Korean War started when the communist-backed North Korea invaded South Korea, who was immediately backed and supported by the United States, who favored a democratic nation over communist. Both sides fought back and forth, giving way to a bloody massacre, which resulted in the Korean Peninsula being divided at the 38th Parallel, almost the exact same spot as it had been divided before the war. While the cease-fire had been made, there were no peace treaties signed, meaning that even though there is no active conflict between the two countries, North and South Korea are still technically at war. Tensions between the two countries have always been high, but recently there have been talks of potential peace, especially in regards to the upcoming Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
On Friday, February 9th, the Opening Ceremonies of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics will commence, which will officially open the Olympic Games and welcome the participating countries to South Korea. Marching among the participating nations will be a delegation from both North and South Korea, displaying “the Unification Flag—a Twitter-blue silhouette of the peninsula against a white field” (The New Yorker). The two united countries will forgo the use of either country’s national anthem and instead enter with the song “Arirang”, a folk march that will symbolize the unity of both countries and potential for peace. The two countries will also form a combined team with players from both nations that will compete in women’s ice hockey this year. All of these symbolic events and actions made by both countries come at a time where both nations are slowly but surely working towards peace between the two.
As the Winter Olympics approached, North and South Korea slowly began to discuss potential pushes for peace. In order to discuss possible participation in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the two countries restored their communication line between the two capitals, Pyongyang for North Korea and Seoul for South Korea. The line for communication had been out of use for nearly two years, so restoring the communications had been a huge step in the right direction in regards to talks about peace. After negotiations had been made about the participants and athletes in the Winter Olympics, the two countries continued their peace talks and lightly began to discuss possible family reunions after over 60 years because of the Korean War. Many families were separated because of the 38th Parallel and have yet to even imagine being reunited until now. The two nations also began to discuss a possible increase in tourism from South Korea to the North.
Ever since the Korean War, relations between North and South Korea have been very strained. The upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics were a much needed reprieve from the tense relationship the two countries shared and gave them the opportunity to put the past behind them and begin working toward a peaceful and prosperous future as two nations with excellent diplomatic relations. Before the peace talks and light discussion over the Olympics, politics between the two countries were plagued with negativity, threats, and violence. Now, because of the Olympics, relations between the countries may end up being positively and friendly somewhere in the near future. Even though the politics between the two countries doesn’t directly involve the United States, it is still incredibly important to know about and try to understand. The United States has previously backed South Korea and still continues to support them to this day. Tensions between the United States and North Korea have spiked, especially in regards to nuclear weapons. Recent missile tests conducted by North Korea have incited fear and worry among many countries, especially now that it has been shown that North Korean missiles are capable of reaching the mainland of the United States. Having potential peace between North and South Korea would not only be a step in the right direction in regards to positive relations between those two countries, but also a positive step in relations with the entire world, including the United States. Should peace talks and positive communication continue with North Korea, it may be more believable that North Korea will agree to cooperate with other countries.
I remember first hearing about what a dangerous and mysterious country North Korea is when I was in middle school. In my 8th grade Civics class, we watched Inside North Korea, a documentary that followed an eye surgeon on his quest to repair and restore eyesight in many North Korean citizens with cataracts. He brought a film team with him to not only document the medical journey, but also obtain inside footage from North Korea. It was an incredible documentary that opened my eyes to a country that I soon realized was extremely isolated and very different than most other countries in the world. I knew that relations between the two countries were extremely poor, as shown in the documentary, but hearing some of the first things about potential peace was very enlightening and hopeful for friendly relations between the nations in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlJUGZPanB8