The Future of South Korea in a Photo

South Korean children stand in front of a tank at the War Memorial of Korea, Seoul, South Korea, in this undated photograph. Courtesy of Dustin Bass/The Sons of History

Commentary

This month marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. If anyone has studied the history of the world, or even the history of a country, any country, they understand that there’s always someone to fight. South Korea is a testament to that fact.

In the classic military strategy text “The Art of War,” Sun Tzu demonstrates the principles required for victory and the mistakes common in defeat. The focal point for Sun Tzu is how to achieve victory or, at the least, avoid defeat. It’s clear in the text that the idea of perpetual peace is an impossibility. It’s a utopian ideal. In his introduction to a 2012 edition of the book, Jan Willem Honig, professor of military strategy at the Swedish National Defense College, wrote that “no end state, no final peace, is ever reached, there will always be an opponent with whom to contend.”

Photo as Metaphor

When I visited South Korea a few years ago, I placed the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul at the top of my list of places to visit. The memorial exceeded all expectations. The massive complex covered the beginning of the country―around 3,000 years ago―to the present. There were timelines, artifacts, photos, weaponry, and various war memorabilia. This article, however, isn’t really about the War Memorial of Korea, and yet, to an extent, it is.

As I concluded my hours-long visit at the memorial, I walked through the open-air exhibit, where past and modern military armaments―planes, tanks, missiles, etc.―were organized. As I photographed the many exhibits, there was one photo that has remained logged in my memory—a kind of metaphorical depiction of the emotional and mental state of South Korea. A necessary state. To me, it defines what’s required for South Korea to move forward. Yet this requirement also ensures that, in some ways, the country can never move forward.

The photo is of four elementary-aged boys, perhaps 5, no more than 6 years old. They stand in front of an old M4 Sherman tank, the type used during the Korean War. All four salute, while two of them additionally hold out their other hand as a gun. It struck me that this is the necessary indoctrination these young South Koreans must undergo.

I can perceive the uneasiness of reading the phrase “necessary indoctrination,” especially concerning military matters, but not all indoctrination is wrong. Not all propaganda is inaccurate or deceptive.

While watching these boys for a moment, I remember asking myself if they really understood what they were doing. Did they really understand the demands of the salute or, even greater, the demands of the gun?

They stood in front of a tank at a war memorial that celebrates the end of the Korean War. The memorial celebrates the country’s current freedom, while simultaneously warning how easily it could be taken. These were children unwittingly born into a war effort that continues to this day. The North and South Koreans may have reached an armistice on July 27, 1953, but the conflict continues.

A Split History

Since the end of World War II, Korea has been split in two. The aforementioned statement that Korea was founded 3,000 years ago may be astounding, but it’s nonetheless true. Korea had been a country of stability, peace, and isolation for the majority of its existence. It wasn’t until an approximate 75-year span (1876–1953) that Korea had its identity stripped and was then slowly but surely ripped apart by differing ideologies.

North Korea and South Korea desire to unify, although their methods for unification vary significantly. North Korea tried for the first few decades to unify through force, barbarism, and assassinations. South Korea has attempted through more diplomatic means, while struggling―at times violently―to govern its own people as it grew to understand democracy after millennia of monarchy.

Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un have continued a mode of government that extends more than 1,000 years into Korean history. They have established a dynasty. There have been three rulers, whom I just mentioned. The last dynasty, the Joseon Dynasty, had 27 monarchs over its 500-year reign. The dynastic form is a continuance of the old ways, except now with the addition of a communist dictatorship.

Legitimacy Through Nuclear Power

So how many more rulers will the Kim Dynasty have before it’s removed? That’s the question that’s impossible to answer. And why is it impossible to answer? Because of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities. There’s no easy solution. Kim Jong Un has connected the legitimacy of the Kim Dynasty to its military might, and removing that connection would require removing Kim Jong Un.

I don’t believe you will ever have one without the other, primarily because North Korea, specifically its regime, continues to embrace its own indoctrination—an indoctrination that the Cold War is ongoing. It’s an idea contrived by the Kim regime and propagated to the populace. North Koreans can hardly be expected to disbelieve it, having remained so long in strict isolationism from the rest of the world. More emphatically, they must believe it, or else be thrown into a labor camp.

This historically unstable regime―unstable in psychological terms―has been stabilized almost completely by utilizing the threat of nuclear arms. Separating the two countries is a thinly veiled border of fences and minefields called the 38th Parallel. Soldiers on both sides remain prepared for an attack. Over the decades, both governments have retained their fingers on the proverbial trigger, or perhaps more appropriately, the red button.

A Necessary Indoctrination

And here we have this photo: South Korean school children standing in front of a tank at the War Memorial of Korea, saluting and making finger guns. The symbolism is unmistakable, practically heavy-handed. But it all makes sense, even if the children are amiss to the magnitude of their gestures.

As I noted before, not all indoctrination is wrong. Some indoctrination is necessary. It isn’t just about fighting; it’s about understanding what lies at the back door.

For the rest of the world, it’s a reminder that there’s “no end state, no final peace ... there will always be an opponent with whom to contend.”

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.