The reunification of the two Koreas and the two Germanys were high-profile topics during the Cold War. This is because both on the line of demarcation between North and South Korea and on the border between Germany and Germany are on the front line of confrontation between the socialist camp and the capitalist camp.
However, both the DPRK and the ROK and Germany have never abandoned the reunification of each other, and they have not only paid hard labor, but also have their own ideas. Now Germany is united, but there are still two independent states on the Korean Peninsula.
Many people had longed for the Korean Peninsula to become a country again, but if North and South Korea were truly reunified, what would their names be in the future? In fact, North Korea's predecessor, Kim Il-sung, referred to the name of the nascent country early on.
In 1980, North Korea's leader, Kim Il Sung, proposed a plan for the merger of the two Koreas in October of the same year. This plan will be based on several core principles, in short, it involves one nation, one state, two sets of systems and two **, and on this basis a federal state will be constructed.
Finally, the name of the country was "one of the Democratic Federal Republics of Korea". Kim Il Sung's idea for this name also had his own considerations. Due to the essential difference between the reunification of the DPRK and the reunification of the two Germanys, the replacement of the country's name has become a trend.
For Germany, the name of the reunification was preferred. During the Cold War, although Germany was divided into two independent states, the names of the two countries were very close – one was called the Federal Republic of Germany and the other was the German Democratic Republic.
Although they are two countries, everyone recognizes the name Germany, so it can still be called Germany after the merger. Moreover, at the end of the Cold War and the great changes in Eastern Europe, East Germany was directly merged into West Germany without any conditions, which allowed the nascent Germany to directly inherit the name of the Federal Republic of Germany in West Germany.
However, for the DPRK and the ROK, there are still many objective factors to consider as to what kind of country names should be used after reunification, because the names of the DPRK and the ROK have special meanings.
First, let's talk about North Korea. The official name of the DPRK is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The ** of this name is that after the Goryeo Dynasty was replaced by the Yi Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty gave the Yi Dynasty the national name - Korea, which contains the meaning of the brightness of the Asahi.
The reason why the first leader of the DPRK chose to name his country "DPRK" was because this title has been used for a long time in the history of the DPRK and has been recognized by a considerable number of the people.
Therefore, theoretically, Korea inherited the legal system of the ancient Joseon Dynasty, but the name of South Korea is different. Daehan** is the official name of South Korea, and there is a specific origin behind this designation.
After the First Sino-Japanese War, Korea at that time changed from being a vassal of the Qing Dynasty to paying tribute to Japan. In order to carry out a complete "de-sinicization" of Korea, Japan wanted to change the name of the country, and this name was given by the Emperor of the Central Plains after all.
In 1897, Emperor Gojong of Korea ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, and he named the new country "The Korean Empire". To put it bluntly, this name was decided with the help of neighboring Japan, which means that Korea has basically broken away from the vassal relationship with the Central Plains Dynasty.
After World War II, the history of Korea being ruled by Japan came to an end. But at that time, because of the Yalta agreement, the Soviet Union and the United States each supported a country on the Korean Peninsula with a similar ideology.
The country in the north is already called Korea, so isn't the country in the south also called Korea? As a result, the name of the country in the south inherited the Korean Empire supported by Japan and created a so-called Korean **.
It is clear that the name of the country is also intended to suppress North Korea. In 1897, the Joseon King did replace the former Joseon Dynasty with the Korean Empire, and although the Joseon royal family had been reduced to a puppet of the Japanese at that time, it did not affect the Korean inheritance of the Korean Empire's legal system.
Under such circumstances, if North Korea and South Korea are to be reunified, what names should be used has become an important issue. Regardless of whether North Korea or South Korea is used, the other side will definitely insist on their own words, after all, people think that they have inherited the orthodoxy of the Joseon Dynasty.
Against this particular historical background, Kim Il Sung proposed a "compromise proposal" to name the newly formed country "one of the Democratic Federal Republics of Korea". Ancient Goryeo was recognized by North and South Korea due to its comparison with the names of two apparently disputed countries, North and South Korea.
If it is called Goryeo, there is no resistance between the two sides. And from this name we can also see the sincerity of Korea's attitude towards the reunification of the peninsula. For neither side seems to have fully absorbed the other.
After the establishment of the federation, there will inevitably be a ** institution, but this institution is not for everyone to decide.
At the same time, both in the South and in the North, each other's ideologies and social systems are respected, and both sides are able to ensure a high degree of administrative autonomy. In the future, the Goryeo Federation will be able to delegate only diplomatic power, military power, and even financial power.
Objectively speaking, Kim Il Sung's plan for federal reunification was a peace plan that best met the common interests of both sides, and it can be said that the DPRK had basically abandoned its hostile attitude towards South Korea at that time and was willing to reunify without ideology.
During the Cold War, the national strength of North and South Korea was basically equal, and the gap between the two countries was not as great as it is now, so the conditions for reunification were met. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, North Korea lost the support of its big brother, and its situation deteriorated, but its neighbor South Korea became a developed country.
The gap in strength between the two countries is so great that it is unrealistic to achieve reunification. South Korea is politically controlled by the United States, so whether or not the peninsula can be reunified is not just a matter for the two Koreas, and if the United States does not nod its head and bow down, the two Koreas will never be able to reunify. Therefore, in the future, I am afraid that the Korean Peninsula issue will not be resolved as smoothly as the two Germanys.