Everything Korean...

This is another one of my sentimental doting of my home country...

I am LOVING this:

In a step toward reconciliation on the divided Korean Peninsula, North and South Korea agreed today to compete as a single nation for the first time at the 2006 Asian Games and at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a South Korean Olympic official said [...]

But Seoul officials say the two sides have already found some common ground. For example, the united team would march under the name "Korea," rather than the official Republic of Korea for the South and the official Democratic People's Republic of Korea for the North. They will unite, too, under a "Korea-is-one" flag that shows a blue and undivided Korean peninsula against a white background.

The anthem for the team would be Arirang, a traditional Korean love song popular in both Koreas, the officials said.

I saw this while browsing the NYTimes homepage at the office and it gave me that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

I was born in 1988, when South Korea (or Republic of Korea) hosted the Olympics and did remarkably well, both in presentation and athletics. It highlighted the remarkable progress from its post-WW2 state of confusion and poverty to modernization. We did it again in 2002, filling the stadium in RED and cheering for our team. But no matter how far South Korea has come- especially technologically- it can never be complete by itself.

I will admit my ignorance in the actual foreign policy involving Korea. But I don't understand why I couldn't go visit Pyongyang and meet people who share the same language, food (yes, kimchi exists in North Korea), culture, and history as my relatives in Seoul. Can't we do better? How can it be that every Korean child will learn to love his or her counterpart on the other side of that despicable line, but the adult politicians only complain about the logistics? Have we stalemated?

Most will point the blame on North Korea. After all, they're the communists and all communists are inherently, unconditionally evil, right? [Note sarcasm] There was the Sunshine Policy:

The Sunshine Policy is the mainstay of the Republic of Korea's North Korea policies aimed at achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula through reconciliation and cooperation with the North. It is not a simple appeasement policy in that it pursues peace on the basis of a strong security stance.

I think that's a pretty good place start. Figuring out how to coexist peacefully? That would be second only to reunification itself.

For decades, North and South Korea had been bitter political and sports rivals. But people in one Korea cheer for the other Korea when it competes with a third country, especially Japan, which once ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony.

Fielding and cheering for a single Olympic team would bring the divided Koreas closer together, officials say.

This is cause to cheer, but I would much rather be cheering for a united Korean peninsula.

Oh, and I find this oddly disturbing... I was browsing the Yahoo AP political news stories... when suddenly, I noticed the ad: