Unification

From today's New York Times:
South Korea's government goes to great lengths to promote the image of reconciliation taking hold on the Korean peninsula.

In August, the two Koreas prepared to present a unified front to world television viewers, marching together behind a neutral "unification flag" at the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics. But North Korea realized it did not have an athlete tall enough to match South Korea's flag bearer, a 6-foot-1 volleyball player named Koo Min Jung.

South Korea broke with protocol and agreed to let Kim Sung Ho, a North Korean coach, be a flag bearer. Mr. Kim, a 50-year-old former basketball player, is an inch taller than Ms. Koo. He also stood head and shoulder above most of North Korea's athletes, members of a generation whose growth was stunted during the famine of the mid-1990's.
According to the article, the South Korean government is desperate not to offend the north, but the north is doing little in return to reciprocate. This is in large part due to economic considerations: South Korea knows that its economic boom relies largely on a high bond rating, which is directly tied to political stability. Make nice with the north, the economy keeps humming along. Call it Karl Marx's revenge.
6.9.04 15:30
 


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