[Opinion] The Federal Republic of Korea

Kim Gu visited Pyongyang in March 1948 to attend a conference of political parties and social organizations of both South and North Korea hosted by Kim Il Sung, and to discuss plans for a united government. After returning to Seoul, he announced, “Pyongyang will never establish a separate government in the North, and will continue to provide the South with electricity.” His popularity skyrocketed.

No wonder. 90% of the electricity on the Korean Peninsula was in North Korea at the time, while two-thirds of the population lived in the southern half. If a separate government was established in North Korea and it cut off the power, South Korea would have fallen into darkness, like North Korea nowadays. But less than two weeks after Kim Gu’s return to Seoul, North Korea cut the power supply. The relief that South Koreans felt turned into despair and outrage. Kim Gu had a passionate ideal, but was used by Kim Il Sung.

Nevertheless, Kim Gu at least had a pure heart. But the tumult over the “Federal Republic of Korea” currently ongoing in the Democratic Labor Party is no more than a big joke. The sentimental mood of its advertisement video that shows a picture of Kim Gu and says, “1948, I’ll never forget that year. That’s when I lost half of my body. My name is the Korean Peninsula,” is childish.

Candidate Kwon Young-ghil of the Democratic Labor Party reportedly opposed this election slogan. In the end, the problematic pledge was deleted and the poster re-photographed, but the National Liberation and People’s Democracy factions within the party are still prolonging their 1980s-style internal struggle.

When the word “Korea” in “Federal Republic of Korea” is replaced by Goryeo, it appears that the basic plan of the theory is not very different from Kim Il Sung’s “Federation of Goryeo” plan. They both include a supreme federation committee and have 10 basic guidelines. This outdated party is also given an election subsidy of more than 20 billion won. Of course, this money comes from taxpayers. It is very understandable that even the director of the progressive political institution under the Democratic Labor Party says that he “would find it impossible to carry on an election campaign if the Federal Republic of Korea was adopted as the vision for the nation.”

Editorial Writer Kim Chang-hyeok, chang@donga.com