Walking in downtown Seoul, I stumbled on an art exhibit featuring the art of school children. The concept of the art project was to draw a picture of what paper money would like under a unified Korea.
On many of the pictures, people would place a dot on pictures that they liked from a roll of stickers nearby. There were several rows of these pictures and they each told an unique story of what it would mean if the North and the South ever became unified.
As an American, it is hard for me to understand the overwhelming desire for the countries to be unified. But, when you consider the long histories and the majority of both countries having a shared ethnicity, it makes a little bit more sense. 99% of the people in the Republic of Korea is Ethnically Korean. When compared to the “melting pot” of the United States, this difference is a profound shift in cultural understanding—particularly when it comes to having a strong desire to be joined once again with the people of the North.
It is interesting to see, through the eyes of children, what is played out on American news programs. One of the aspects of Korean culture is the teaching and reinforcement of this value of unification using many different means. In some ways, it reminds me of different anti-drug campaign, or Earth Day type campaign to help educate children in the states.
It also strikes me that little children can capture the essence of what we all hope for.