There are currently four countries which are politically divided into two separate states: Ireland, Korea, Cyprus, and most recently Sudan.

Out of all these, the consequences of the division of Korea have always been in the spotlight, most especially since the end of the Korean war. In the north part of the Korean peninsula, there is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK); while on the south, we have the Republic of Korea (ROK). To understand the current situation, we have to go back and analyse the root of the problem.

The past

Korea was previously a unified country which was completely annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. Its annexation was internationally recognised until the Japanese Empire defeat in World War II. At the end of the war in 1945, Korea was divided in two zones along the 38th parallel. The northern half of the peninsula was occupied by the Soviet Union while the southern half was occupied by the United States. Due to the fact that the Cold War started just as soon as World War II ended, diplomatic negotiations to reunify Korea failed. Thereafter, the Soviets installed Kim Il-sung (born as Kim Song-ju), a Marxist revolutionary and anti-Japanese guerrilla, to rule the north; the Americans backed and appointed Syngman Rhee, a staunch anti-communist, to rule the south.

Both Kim and Syngman ruled their own state within Korea with an iron fist. By 1949 Kim had completely consolidated his rule in North Korea. At the same time, he began promoting an intense personality cult where many statues of himself had appeared and began calling himself ‘Great Leader’.

Although a tense and fragile peace has existed since then, both Korean states remain technically at war- Christopher Camilleri

On the other hand, in South Korea, Syngman purged thousands of opponents and undesired elements by 1950. He jailed about 30,000 alleged communists and enrolled 300,000 suspected sympathisers in an official “re-education” movement.

Both Syngman and Kim wanted to unify the Korean peninsula under their own government and pleaded with their respective superpower benefactor to supply them with weapons and equipment. The US refused to give South Korea any heavy weapons, to ensure that its military could only be used for preserving internal order and self-defence. In contrast, the USSR well provided North Korea with Soviet aircraft, vehicles, and tanks.

This picture shows North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (right) walking with his daughter as he inspects a new intercontinental ballistic missile at Pyongyang International Airport. Photo: KCNA VIA KNS / AFP

Historical documentation seems to indicate that North Korea’s decision to invade South Korea was Kim’s initiative, not a Soviet one. Nevertheless, Stalin had given Kim his permission to proceed in April 1950.

At dawn on June 25, 1950, North Korean forces had attacked all along the 38th Parallel with a combined arms force, which included tanks supported by heavy artillery. By contrast the South Korean army had no tanks, anti-tank weapons or heavy artillery to stop the invasion and were quickly overwhelmed.

The South Korean army dropped from 95,000 troops on June 25 to less than 22,000 in a matter of five days and was in full retreat until the US forces arrived in early July.

US forces took over command of what remained of the South Korean army, as Syngman ordered the execution of tens of thousands of political prisoners and political opponents.

With the help of US forces and the UN Command, the North Korean army was pushed back to the 38th parallel. In a tit-for-tat move to reunify the Korean peninsula, the US, UN and ROK forces invaded North Korea soon after. The North Korean army was pushed further northward to the mountains, when China decided to intervene on its behalf.

Being then heavily outnumbered, the US, UN and ROK forces gradually retreated back to the 38th parallel. For the remainder of the war between July 1951 and July 1953, fighting around the 38th parallel amassed a huge number of casualties with little territorial gain for both sides.

An armistice was finally signed on July 27, 1953. Interestingly, the ROK was not signatory to this agreement. Although a tense and fragile peace has existed since then, both Korean states remain technically at war.

The present

Despite its formal name, the DPRK was never a democratic country. It is a Marxist monarchy ruled by the Kim family. Given that historically, social democrats and Marxists have fought to topple past monarchies, to define a country as a Marxist monarchy is really an oxymoron. But facts prove that’s what it actually is! After Kim Il-sung’s death in 1994, his son Kim Jong-il succeeded him and continued to rule the country with an equally iron fist.

When Kim Jong-il died in 2011, the young and barely known Kim Jong-Un took over the leadership of the country and has been in power ever since. All the three Kims have enjoyed a grotesque personality cult where their people revere them as living gods.

Only consistent dialogue, with good and honest intentions from both parties is the only way forward to gradually end this dilemma in a peaceful way- Christopher Camilleri

The DPRK is an extremely disciplined and militarised society where more than half of its population serves in some way or another within the army. It is also a hermit state which has very little contact with the outside world. Citizens are not allowed to travel abroad, apart from a chosen few with exceptional reasons. Diplomatically, it only has good relations with China. Recently however, with half of its diplomatic relations in tatters following its decision to invade Ukraine, Russia now seems to be building stronger ties with the DPRK.

South Korea's ousted president Park Geun-Hye (centre) arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in 2017 for her trial over the massive corruption scandal that led to her downfall. Photo: Jung Yeon-Je / AFP

After a famine in the 1990s and crippling economic sanctions imposed because of the country’s nuclear weapons programme, many analysts predicted that the DPRK regime would collapse sooner or later. Time has proved them wrong, since the DPRK regime appears to be very well in control. It regularly tests short- and long-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, and these tests have increased since Kim Jong-Un took over. He knows very well that if he gives up on his nuclear weapons, he would be making the same mistake as Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi, who ended up killed in rebellion.

On the other hand, although the ROK experienced a series of military dictatorships from the 1960s until the 1980s, it has since developed into a liberal democracy. The country has also developed into an affluent economic powerhouse run by a series of very successful companies, conglomerates, and powerful consortiums. Samsung, Hyundai and LG are but a few examples. Nevertheless, huge corruption scandals often involving shady dealings between companies’ CEOs and politicians emerge in the news from time to time. One such scandal had even brought the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye in 2016. She was later sentenced to 24 years in prison for corruption and abuse of power, becoming the first ever South Korean president to be removed from office.

Besides its business and economic phenomenon, the ROK is home to a powerful video gaming culture where top e-sports players are viewed and treated like Hollywood actors. The ROK is also called the “cosmetic surgery capital of the world” and currently performs 24 per cent of all cosmetic surgeries.

The DMZ (De-Militarised Zone) between the Koreas is the most tense and dangerous area on the planet with both militaries always on high alert. The US still has a presence of 28,500 military personnel in South Korea. While China has not retained any military forces, it has remained the DPRK’s only military and political ally. The main reason is probably because China does not want to end up having a reunified Korea under US influence as its neighbour. Furthermore, it can count on DPRK support, should it ever decide to invade Taiwan.

Ultimately, only consistent dialogue, with good and honest intentions from both parties will provide a way forward to gradually end this dilemma in a peaceful way. Even though both countries appear to seek a peaceful reunification, with the ROK even having a Ministry of Unification, mutual mistrust and belligerence have remained inhibiting factors to friendly developments.

What both sides definitely agree upon is that a second Korean war would be another tragic and fratricidal catastrophe.

 Christopher Camilleri is a civil servant and IT consultant.