South Korea’s new plan for North Korea’s ‘freedom’

Every year, on August 15, there is a public holiday in South Korea to commemorate the day the Korean peninsula was liberated from Japanese colonial rule. On this day, there is a longstanding tradition whereby South Korean presidents outline their vision for Korean unification – Korea has been divided between the North and South since 1945.

But the country’s current president, Yoon Suk Yeol, proposed a new approach this year. Rather than emphasizing “peaceful unification” with North Korea, as has been the focus of many previous presidents, Yoon’s vision places “freedom” at the heart of South Korea’s unification pursuit.

In his speech, Yoon spelled out the tasks he sees as crucial for moving towards a unified Korea. Among them was the “need to change the minds of the North Korean people, to make them ardently desire a freedom-based unification.” Simply put, this will involve promoting the freedom of North Koreans to access information from the outside world.

This approach suggests the South Korean government will continue its hands-off policy towards the activists who have for months been sending balloons across the border filled with leaflets criticizing the regime of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

Yoon’s government has refrained from intervening with the activities of these activists, who are mainly North Korean defectors. It has even cited a Constitutional Court ruling from 2023 that declared these actions protected under freedom of expression.

At the same time, Yoon’s approach will involve preserving the values that make South Korea a “free” nation, and making these the guiding principles for a unified Korea. These include its liberal democracy, free-market economy, and respect for human rights.

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