Editing Korean reunification (section)

==International positions==

===China===
{{Further|China–North Korea relations|China–South Korea relations}}

In 1984, the ''[[Beijing Review]]'' provided China's view on Korean unification: "With regard to the situation on the Korean peninsula, China's position is clear: it is squarely behind the proposal of North Korea for tripartite (between the two Koreas and the United States) talks to seek a peaceful and independent reunification of Korea in the form of a confederation, free from outside interference. China believes this is the surest way to reduce tension on the peninsula."<ref>Mu Yaolin, "President Reagan's China Visit," ''Beijing Review'', April 23, 1984, p. 4.</ref>

China's current [[China–North Korea relations|relationship with North Korea]] and position on a unified Korea is seen as dependent on a number of issues. A unified Korea could prevent [[North Korea and weapons of mass destruction#Nuclear weapons|North Korea's nuclear weapons program]] from destabilizing East Asia as well as the Chinese government. The 2010 [[United States diplomatic cables leak]] mentioned two unnamed PRC officials telling the Deputy Foreign Minister of South Korea that the [[Generations of Chinese leadership|younger generation]] of Chinese leaders increasingly believed that Korea should be reunified under South Korean rule, provided it were not hostile to China.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tisdall|first=Simon|date=2010-11-29|title=Wikileaks cables reveal China 'ready to abandon North Korea'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/29/wikileaks-cables-china-reunified-korea|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130911175226/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/29/wikileaks-cables-china-reunified-korea|archive-date=2013-09-11|access-date=2010-12-01|website=TheGuardian.com|language=}}</ref> The report also claimed that senior officials and the general public in the PRC were becoming increasingly frustrated with the North acting like a "spoiled child," following its repeated missile and nuclear tests, which were seen as a gesture of defiance not only to the West, but also to China.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/30/china-wants-korean-reunification |location=London |work=The Guardian |first1=Simon |last1=Tisdall |first2=Tania |last2=Branigan |title=WikiLeaks row: China wants Korean reunification, officials confirm |date=2010-11-30 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221142854/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/30/china-wants-korean-reunification |archive-date=2016-12-21 }}</ref> The business magazine ''[[Caixin]]'' reported that North Korea accounted for 40% of China's foreign aid budget and required 50,000 tonnes of oil per month as a [[buffer state]] against Japan, South Korea, and the United States, with whom trade and investment is now worth billions. North Korea is seen in China as expensive and internationally embarrassing to support.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/29/wikileaks-north-korea-china-south-reunification |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Isabel |last=Hilton |title=US embassy cables: Beijing's lost patience leaves Pyongyang with little to lose |date=2010-11-29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221143154/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/29/wikileaks-north-korea-china-south-reunification |archive-date=2016-12-21 }}</ref>

However, the collapse of the North Korean regime and unification by Seoul would also present a number of problems for China. A sudden and violent collapse might cause a [[refugee|mass exodus]] of North Koreans fleeing or fighting poverty into China, causing a [[humanitarian crisis]] that could destabilize [[northeast China]]. The movement of South Korean and American soldiers into the North could result in their being temporarily or even permanently stationed on China's border, seen as a potential threat to China sovereignty and an imposition of a [[United States foreign policy toward the People's Republic of China|China containment policy]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Sun |first=Yun |title=The Logic of China's Korea Policy |magazine=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]] |date=22 June 2012 |url=https://thediplomat.com/new-leaders-forum/2012/06/22/the-logic-of-chinas-korea-policy/ |access-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308173459/https://thediplomat.com/new-leaders-forum/2012/06/22/the-logic-of-chinas-korea-policy/ |archive-date=8 March 2013 }}</ref> A unified Korea could also more strongly pursue its [[East China Sea EEZ disputes|territorial disputes with China]]<ref name="Congress">{{cite web|title=US Congressional Report Expects China To Intervene In North Korea |publisher=ROK Drop |date=7 January 2013 |url=http://rokdrop.com/2013/01/07/us-congressional-report-expects-china-to-intervene-in-north-korea/ |access-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120190423/http://rokdrop.com/2013/01/07/us-congressional-report-expects-china-to-intervene-in-north-korea/ |archive-date=20 January 2013 }}</ref> and might inflame nationalism among [[Koreans in China]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Byington |first=Mark |title=The War of Words Between South Korea and China Over An Ancient Kingdom: Why Both Sides Are Misguided |work=History News Network |publisher=George Mson University |date=10 September 2004 |url=http://hnn.us/articles/7077.html |access-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509032647/http://hnn.us/articles/7077.html |archive-date=9 May 2013 }}</ref> Some have claimed the existence of [[OPLAN 5029#Chinese plans|contingency plans]] for the PRC intervening in situations of great turmoil in North Korea<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ko:중국 인민해방군, 북한 급변사태 때 대동강 이북 점령 |language=ko |publisher=Defence21 |date=25 May 2011 |url=http://defence21.hani.co.kr/9875 |access-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214060026/http://defence21.hani.co.kr/9875 |archive-date=14 December 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=US Congressional Report Expects China To Intervene In North Korea |publisher=ROK Drop |date=7 January 2013 |url=http://rokdrop.com/2013/01/07/us-congressional-report-expects-china-to-intervene-in-north-korea |access-date=23 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120190423/http://rokdrop.com/2013/01/07/us-congressional-report-expects-china-to-intervene-in-north-korea/ |archive-date=20 January 2013 }}</ref> (with the [[Northeast Project (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)|Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Northeast Project]] on the [[Goguryeo controversies|Chinese identity of the Goguryeo kingdom]] potentially used to justify [[Military intervention|intervention]] or even [[annexation]]).<ref name="UnifTV" />

===Japan===
{{Further|North Korea–Japan relations|Japan–South Korea relations|Japan–Korea disputes}}
Similarly to [[China]], reunification of Korea poses complications for future Korea-Japan relations, especially with regards to the disputed territorial status of the [[Liancourt Rocks]] and historical issues such as the [[Comfort women]]. A reunified Korea will likely position itself as an economic competitor to Japan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://japan-forward.com/asias-next-page-japans-stance-on-a-united-korea-ambivalence-or-realpolitik/|title=[Asia's Next Page] Japan's Stance on a United Korea: Ambivalence or Realpolitik?|work=[[Japan Forward]]|first=Jagannath|last=Panda|date=July 3, 2022|access-date=January 24, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.waseda.jp/inst/wias/assets/uploads/2019/03/RB011_005-016.pdf |title=Perception of Korean Reunification among Japanese Experts: The Collective Frame Approach |last1=Korostelina |first1=Karina |last2=Uesugi |first2=Yuji |date= |website=waseda.jp |publisher= |access-date=10 September 2024 |quote= |page={{Page needed|date=September 2024}}}}</ref>

===Soviet Union and Russia===
{{Further|North Korea–Russia relations|Russia–South Korea relations}}
{{Update|section|date=May 2014}}
As relations between North Korea and the Soviet Union warmed, the latter returned to warm public support for Kim Il Sung's peaceful reunification proposals. Soviet attention in Northeast Asia gradually began to focus on a new plan for "[[collective security]] in Asia" first proposed in an ''[[Izvestia]]'' editorial in May 1969 and mentioned specifically by [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet general secretary]] [[Leonid Brezhnev]] in his address to the [[1969 International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties|International Conference of Communist and Workers' Parties]] in Moscow the following month:<ref>''[[Pravda]]'', June 8, 1969.{{Full citation needed|date=September 2024}}</ref>

{{blockquote|For us, the burning problems of the present international situation do not push into the background more long-range tasks, especially the creation of a system of collective security in those parts of the world where the threat of the unleashing of a new World War and the unleashing of armed conflicts is centered... We think that the course of events also places on the agenda the task of creating a system of collective security in Asia.}}

===United States===
[[File:President Trump Meets with Chairman Kim Jong Un (48164813552).jpg|thumb|US President [[Donald Trump]] (left), North Korean Chairman [[Kim Jong Un]] (center), and South Korean President [[Moon Jae-in]] (right) in the demilitarized zone in 2019]]
{{Further|OPLAN 5027|OPLAN 5029|North Korea–United States relations|South Korea–United States relations}}
The United States officially supports Korean reunification under a democratic government, but questions still remain as to the continued relevance of US military presence on the peninsula.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA408232.pdf |title=The Effects of Korean Unification on the US Military Presence in Northeast Asia |last=Haselden Jr. |first=Carl E. |date=November 2002 |page={{Page needed|date=September 2024}} |website= |publisher= |access-date=10 September 2024 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/korean-reunification-and-u-s-interests-preparing-for-one-korea/|title=Korean Reunification and U.S. Interests: Preparing for One Korea|website=brookings.edu|first=Evans J.R.|last=Revere|date=January 20, 2015|access-date=January 25, 2024}}</ref> [[Mike Mansfield]] proposed that Korea be neutralized under a great-power agreement, accompanied by the withdrawal of all foreign troops and the discontinuation of security treaties with the great power guarantors of the North and South.

In the 1990s, despite issues surrounding the controversial US-South Korean joint [[Team Spirit]] military exercises, the Clinton administration still managed to help turn around the situation regarding peace with North Korea through [[Jimmy Carter]]'s support. It promised [[Light-water reactor|light water reactors]] in exchange for the availability of North Korea for inspection of its facilities and other concessions. North Korea reacted positively, despite blaming the United States as the original aggressor in the Korean War. There were attempts to [[Japan–North Korea relations|normalize relations with Japan]] as well as the United States with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in open support. North Korea actually favored the United States military's position on the front lines because it helped prevent an outbreak of war. Eventually, aid and oil were supplied, and even cooperation with South Korean business firms. However, one of the remaining fears was North Korea, with their necessary uranium deposits, having the potential to achieve a high level of nuclear technology.

Former US Secretary of State [[Henry Kissinger]], another supporter of Korean unification, proposed a [[Six-party talks|six-party conference]] to find a way out of the [[Korean conflict|Korean dilemma]], composed of the two Koreas and four connected powers (the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and Japan). North Korea denounced the "four plus two" scenario, as it was also known, by claiming Korea would be at the mercy of the [[great power]]s and insinuated the reestablishment of Japanese power in Korea. However, North Korea ultimately lacked confidence in getting simultaneous help from China and the Soviet Union.<ref name=Cumings/>{{rp|508}}

===United Nations===
{{Further|Korea and the United Nations}}
Following a summit meeting held between leaders of the two countries in Pyongyang from June 13 to 15 in 2000, the chairpersons of the [[Millennium Summit]] issued a statement welcoming their Joint Declaration as a breakthrough in bringing peace, stability, and reunification to the Korean peninsula.<ref>{{UN document |docid=A-55-PV.4 |body=General Assembly |type=Verbotim Report |session=55 |meeting=4 |page=1 |anchor=pg001-bk02 |date=6 September 2000 |accessdate=2008-04-06 |title=Statement by the Co-Chairpersons – Millennium Summit}}</ref> Seven weeks later, a resolution to the same effect was passed by the [[United Nations General Assembly]] after being co-sponsored by 150 other nations.<ref>{{UN document |docid=A-55-PV.45 |body=General Assembly |type=Verbotim Report |session=55 |meeting=45 |page=14 |anchor=pg014-bk02 |date=31 October 2000 |accessdate=2008-04-06 }}</ref>

A scheduled General Assembly debate on the topic in 2002 was deferred for a year at the request of both nations,<ref>{{UN document |docid=A-56-PV.111 |body=General Assembly |type=Verbotim Report |session=56 |meeting=111 |page=2 |anchor=pg002-bk02 |date=6 September 2002 |accessdate=2008-04-06 }}</ref> and when the subject returned in 2003, it was immediately dropped off the agenda.<ref>{{UN document |docid=A-57-PV.94 |body=General Assembly |type=Verbotim Report |session=57 |meeting=94 |page=7 |anchor=pg007-bk11 |date=15 September 2003 |accessdate=2008-04-06 }}</ref>

The issue did not return to the General Assembly until 2007,<ref>{{UN document |docid=A-62-PV.41 |body=General Assembly |type=Verbotim Report |session=62 |meeting=41 |page=1 |anchor=pg001-bk02 |date=31 October 2007 |accessdate=2008-04-06 |title=Peace, security and reunification on the Korean peninsula}}</ref> following a second Inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang on October 2–4, 2007. These talks were held during one round of the [[Six-party talks|Six-Party Talks]] in Beijing which committed to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.<ref>{{UN document |docid=A-62-PV.41 |body=General Assembly |type=Verbotim Report |session=62 |meeting=41 |page=1 |anchor=pg001-bk06-pa04 |date=31 October 2007 |speakername=Mr. Choi Young-jin | speakernation=Republic of Korea |accessdate=2008-04-06 }}</ref>