독일 통일의 교훈과 한반도 통일

Abstract

The misunderstanding of the process and lessons from the German unification negatively influenced both Korean government policy and people’s consciousness of the Peninsula’s unification. One of the key misconceived perceptions of the Korean people is that the German unification was possible thanks to West Germany's policy of reconciliation and cooperation, the so-called Willy Brandt's New Ostpolitik. In reality, the German unification was the outcome of the “Policy of Superior Power” with West Germany, exerting power over the East. In addition, Korean people have thought that the German unification model, the so-called “absorbed unification”, is the model which should be avoided, but there is much possibility that the German model would be an inevitable choice for Korea’s unification. Also, Korean people think that South Korea should support the development of North Korean economy to reduce unification cost. However, the North Korean economy cannot recover due to its deficient political and economic systems. And while the Korean people think that the German government has committed many mistakes in the unification process. Nevertheless, most of the “mistakes” were inevitable second choices which the German government could not avoid. Finally, Korean people are afraid of unification costs. However, unified Germany has overcome most of the aftermath of the unification, and has solidified its position as the “Engine of the World Economy”. Moreover, Korean people can enjoy more benefits of unification than German people. Korean people, therefore, should hopefully exert efforts for unification without being afraid of unification costs.