Lessons from German Reunification for Inter-Korean Relations: An Analysis of South Korean Public Spheres, 1990-2010

Abstract

In this article I present competing patterns of discursive reconstruction of German reunification in South Korean public spheres and the methods of mobilizing them for domestic debates on inter-Korean relations. I analyze the editorials and opinion articles of two newspapers, Chosun Daily and Hankyoreh, which respectively represent the most influential conservative and progressive print media in South Korea. The articles not only discuss German reunification in contrasting ways but also integrate those interpretive schemes into policy advocacy on North Korea. The conservatives utilized the narratives about the breakdown of the East German regime and the subsequent unification to justify an aggressive policy toward North Korea, whereas progressives consistently judged the German case as "unification by absorption," giving full support to reconciliation and peaceful coexistence.