North and South Korea: The Complexity of Reunification

1. Zoe Michelle Szekely
LTCS 120
Professor Margrit Frolich
Fall Quarter 2014
North Korea and South Korea: The Complexity of Reunification
The border that divides North Korea and South Korea is a representation of the
differing systems of societal organization, in which there is a Socialist North Korea and
Capitalist South Korea, rather than, at face value, the differing cultures of the two. North
Korea is collectivistic; major industries are under governmental control rather than by
individual people and companies - here, as understood in Marxist’s theory, there is an
unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done. While in South Korea,
one can see the adoption of a Western-style social system, in which there is the attempt to
employ free-market principles of Capitalism, and in effect, the emergence of
an individualistic society.
To suggest that the cultures differ between North Korea and South Korea would
be to infer that the two Koreas have differing values. The idea of “the West,” while
seemingly straightforward, and about matters of geography and location, is also used to
refer to a type of society, or a level of development. Therefore, “westernization” is
identical in meaning to “modernization” – When referencing “the West,” it is to describe
an industrialized, modern society. Once the idea was produced, it enabled people to know
or speak of certain things in certain ways; the Western ideologies have become integrated

2. into the societal organization of South Korea, while North Korea continues to oppose
them, and forbids exposure of the connection to the outside world. As Manfred B. Steger
explains in the book, Globalization, A Very Short Introduction:
“Indeed, like ‘modernization’ and other verbal nouns that end in the suffix’-
ization’, the term ‘globalization’ suggest sort of dynamism best captured by the
notion of ‘development’ or ‘unfolding’ along discernible patterns. Such unfolding
may occur quickly or slowly, but it always corresponds to the idea of change, and,
therefore, denotes transformation” (Page 9).
The films, Crossing (dir. Kim Tae-qyun, 2008) and Joint Security Area (dir. Park
Chan-wook, 2000), are two that reflect upon the border dividing South Korea and North
Korea. In the analysis, it is important to recognize the fact that both films are
contemporary South Korean films, which not only indicate that the division of the two
Koreas is still current in the present, but also reflect the perspective and transparency of
South Korean ideologies. The films gained American recognition and raised awareness of
the standard of living in North Korea, while also proposing the notion of South Korea’s
willingness, but fearfulness, to unite. A recent article, written by Alastair Gale, published
by the Wall Street Journal, “Walls Still Impede South Korea’s Reunification With
North,” supports with his statement: “Many Koreans express a desire for reunification out
of a sense of duty and belief in the unity of the Korean race.”
Both of the films portray the border that divides the two Koreas as a
representation of the opposition between the two political powers, and, therefore,
difference in societal organization and development. The border is not, however, a
reflection of conflict and opposition with the individual citizens of both South Korea and

3. North Korea. Although, it is important to point out that in current times, with the division
continuing into the present:
“The gap between rich and poor among citizens will worsen and there will be
social problems after reunification…South Koreans also worry about culture
differences with their northern neighbors, who have lived under a cult-like
dictatorship for decades” (Wall Street Journal, “Wall Still Impedes South Korea’s
Reunification with North”).
In the film, Crossing, the border portrays the division of an industrialized South
Korean society through their adoption of Western ideologies, and the rural, traditional
North Korean society. One can see the film reflect upon South Korea’s adoption of “the
West” that offer it’s citizens a modern, developed life with more opportunity – South
Korean is portrayed as accepting to those who have managed to escape from North
Korea. However, the unwillingness from North Korea to change from the traditional
ideologies of socialism is apparent in the film through examples of suppression within the
society – North Korean citizens are not allowed exposure to the outside world. The
border, then, is the division between a life of opportunity within one society, and the
oppression within another.
The film, Joint Security Area, portrays the border division as a result of
conflicting political powers, and supports the above-mentioned point that the conflict is
not within the individual citizens themselves. Underlying the political opposition between
South Korea and North Korea, the film tells the story of friendship between a South
Korean citizen and a North Korean citizen, behind the hostile environment.
Crossing (2008) tells the story of a family living in North Korea. Although the

4. focus is centered on the journey of Kim Yong Soo, the father/husband of Kim Joon, the
son, and his wife, it is a portrayal of the many hardships an average North Korean citizen
faces. Yong Soo illegally leaves the country in search for medicine for his pregnant wife
who is suffering from tuberculosis, leaving her and Kim Joon behind as he eventually
finds his way to South Korea. Without the ability to communicate with his family, Yong
Soo continues on, while back in North Korea, his wife passes away and his son is left
homeless. For the citizens in North Korea, the border between them and South Korea was
a division separating them from a better life, and in this case, life at all.
Before Yong Soo begins his journey in hopes to make it to China where he can
find the medicine needed, he and his family spend an evening eating dinner at one of
their family friend’s homes. Yong Soo’s friend, the father/husband of the household
hosting the dinner, pulls out a bottle of “Western alcohol,” explaining the benefits of how
it does not make one sick like the alcohol found in North Korea. Within the same
evening, not only are the families exposed to a television set that is showing a recording
of a soccer game, with one team being that of South Korea, but Yong Soo is also revealed
in privacy what is referred to as the “Book of Life from Heaven,” or better known as the
Bible. However, all of the Western products revealed to Yong Soo that night were shown
under the strict understanding that they could not be exposed to anyone else.
Later on in the film, one sees the friend that revealed his Western products to
Yong Soo killed by North Korean detectives after they find his collection, despite his
plead for them to have mercy just this once. The fact that North Koreans could not
expose their knowledge or be in possession of Western products, as it ultimately leads to
death, is a reflection of North Korea’s opposition of Westernization, and it’s attempts to

5. stop the forces of globalization. The television set that played the South Korean soccer
game reflects the transparency of their society, and while in North Korea, soccer is
played too, but the games are highly regulated and watched by guards. To watch
television is a way for those to connect to the outside world and the societal organization
of North Korea shelters awareness of the ways in which those outside are living.
Yoog Soo’s journey began with the need to find medicine to cure his pregnant
wife’s tuberculosis, and with the probability of him being able to find it within North
Korea being almost zero to none, he must leave to find it elsewhere. During his travels
through crossing the border, death is a common theme that arises, as Soo ventures
through and hides in the swamp areas while not knowing if/ or when he will be shot. He
continues on, starving and illegally working, all while not being in contact with his
family, and, therefore, without knowledge of his wife passing and his son wondering
around homeless without hope his father his still alive.
After Soo finally arrives and becomes established in South Korea, due to him
being granted the opportunity for a better life, not only as a soccer player, but also due to
the basic human rights granted there. The standard of living between the two Koreas is
clearly different, and this is shown through the film’s switching of perspectives through
the example of the homeless son in North Korea, and the father now in South Korea. On
the same rainy day, the son is outside in North Korea, only to have the memory of
kicking around the soccer ball with his father; in South Korea, dressed-up in a nice suit,
only to be watching the rain from inside a nice building. More importantly, Soo’s wife
died of tuberculosis, an illness that can be treated for free at one of South Korea’s public
health centers.

6. The film emphasizes the difference in the standard of living between the two
Koreas, in which South Koreans prosper and thrive off adopted Western ideologies, while
in North Korea, rural and suppressed conditions are commonly only escaped by death.
Differences between the two living conditions stem from the ideologies of “the West,”
and the expansion of the term's original meaning of geography or location, into one that
also refers to a type of society, or level of development. These Western ideologies
produced knowledge, and enabled people to know or speak of certain things in certain
ways – the adoption of these principles, in effect, became the gateway to an industrialized
society.
The film represents the difference in individual living conditions stemming from
the difference in the two Koreas’ societal organization – the border is the division of a
developing society from one in which change is opposed and suppressed. While South
Korean citizens were granted basic human rights under their adoption of Western
ideologies, those in North Korea were killed for even having exposure to their products,
as one can see when Yong Soo’s friend has his life taken when his Western products are
uncovered.
The film, Joint Security Area, takes place on the tension-heavy border that
separates North and South Korea – here soldiers from both sides stand face-to-face, only
to be separated by a line. The plot focuses around the investigation into the circumstances
of the murder of two North Korean soldiers within the “DMZ,” or demilitarized mutual
zone. The tension within the zone was exemplified with the example of two soldiers, one
North Korean and the other South Korean, facing each other, only separated by a white
line on the ground, when one sternly states, “Watch it, your shadow is over the line.”

7. This zone between the two Koreas reflects a political theme within the film, and is
an indication of the political powers and their influence over individual lives. Although
the South Korean soldier, Sergeant Lee Soo-hyeok, confessed to the shootings with the
excuse that in was in defense of his kidnapping, when the surviving North Korean soldier
was asked his side of the incident, there was opposition within the two stories. The North
Korean soldier, Sergeant Oh Kyeong-pil, states that Soo-hyeok barged into what is called
“the border house,” and shot everyone before he fled the scene. When the autopsy report
indicated that the soldier was shot 8-times, it became apparent that the South Korean
solider who admitted to being kidnapped was attempting to cover-up the grudge he
clearly had. This would also confirm the North Korean’s statement that the shooting was
unprovoked; the shooting at the J.S.A., then, reflects and reinforces the theme of
geopolitical hostility.
However, underlying the opposition and major theme of conflicting political
powers, there lays the story of friendship between soldiers of the North and South. When
South Korean soldier, Soo-hyeok, found himself lost on the North Korean side and
eventually only to find himself to trip on a mine, he found himself to be saved by two
North Korean soldiers, Kyeong-pil and Woo-jin, when they deactivate the mine for him.
Soo-hyeok began to send messages over the border to maintain contact with the ones who
rescued his life, and soon with the invitation came to cross the border, with the three
eventually becoming friends. An important point in the plot, was that during their
decision to become a group of friends, it was agreed that politics were too be left out of
their friendship in order to maintain loyalty to their country.
The story of their friendship is one in which the logic of political conflict works

8. itself out in brutal, hostile ways that ordinary, individual people, no matter how brave or
decent they might be, are powerless to oppose. Therefore, the division represents the
political conflict and the lacks of power individuals have in their ability to overcome it.