Andrei Lankov on Roh Moo-hyun's Big Speech

The Koreanologist looks at the ex-president's "lengthy speech on the policy he believes Seoul should follow in dealing with North Korea" — The facts and fables of a unified Korea. Mr. Roh said that "the only viable form of unification with the North is a confederation" which "might be achieved with the current North Korean regime staying in power." The former South Korean chief executive questioned "support for human rights and aid to refugees" sating these were "likely to irritate the Pyongyang government."

Prof. Lankov said that "his rightist opponents... see some of these statements (perhaps correctly) as a major blow to Roh's reputation and legacy," but suggests that the speech represents "a clear tendency to abandon the vision of unification as the supreme national goal." The bulk of his article is devoted to explaining how "syrupy pro-unification rhetoric began to be employed to justify a policy whose goal - at least, in the short and medium terms - was to maintain division to keep the situation stable and South (but not North) Koreans affluent."

My take on this is that there is nothing wrong with the desire to "keep the situation stable and South (but not North) Koreans affluent." The sooner the "lip service to unification" Prof. Lankov speaks of ends, the better. The ex-president is correct that "while unification is desirable, peace and stability on the peninsula are more important." The former is abstract while the latter are real.