Korean Reunification - Politics and Ideology

Politics and Ideology

Currently, political issues such as differing forms of government cause most concern. Nevertheless, the attitude of the South Korean government towards North Korea has changed dramatically in the last few decades; during the Park Chung-hee administration, hatred towards the North Korean government was promoted in the civilian population. For example, a poster displaying two Korean characters (반공 /Ban-gong; 反共) meaning "Against Communism" or "Anti Communism" was posted on every schoolhouse wall. In contrast, a recent comic book published by a South Korean author detailing a less-than-flattering portrait of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was banned because the South Korean government feared that its publication could hurt reunification efforts. In the North, the Korean Central News Agency often refers to the South Korean government as a "puppet government", which in the opinion of North Korean leadership is the real obstacle to reunification. An 'Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front' is a South Korean pro-DPRK organization that mostly operates from the North and aims at reunification from the DPRK perspective.