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Sometimes it’s hard to believe that North and South Korea used to be the same country. On the one hand, you have South Korea, plastic surgery and cute baby capital of the world, and on the other hand you have North Korea, which is apparently constantly on fire, possibly due to “gasoline clams.”

However, many would love to see the two Koreas reunited once again, among them South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye. In a speech that she gave at a recent meeting, she said that the two Koreas might even be reunited as soon as 2016.

This of course set off a chain of reactions from South Koreans online, some praising the idea of immediate unification while others criticized it – and not necessarily for the reasons you might think.

South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh reported that on July 10, South Korea’s president Park Geun-hye spoke on a panel for the preparation of the Korean reunification, during which she made the remark that the “Korean reunification might even happen next year.”

President Park backed up her claim to the panel by saying that “the people who have influence in North Korea are defecting,” and that there is a possibility North Korea may collapse sooner than expected. She urged everyone in attendance to start preparing for a potential emergency unification.

Of course these are strong words. Korea has been divided in two ever since the end of World War II, 70 years ago. A lot of Koreans have spent those 70 years hoping for reunification, while others have spent the time dreading it. It would take a lot of time, effort, and especially money to bring North Korea into the 21st century, and that’s not even taking into account what to do with its unruly government.

As expected, President Park’s remarks have met with a veritable smorgasbord of reactions online. Here’s a sample of what some Korean netizens had to say:

“I’m tired of her using reunification just to get support. If it wasn’t for North Korea, she’d never have been elected.”
“Most Koreans want reunification, but we shouldn’t do it under President Park. It’s too fast. She’ll mess it up.”
“Wait, isn’t reunification the worst-case scenario? That’s like when the dam finally breaks and suddenly you have a flood to deal with.”
“If reunification happens, Korea’s debt will only go up. Our money won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on!”
“An emergency reunification would only benefit the rich. It’d be a disaster for everyone else.”
“President Park, please stop lying. No one believes you anymore.”
“I don’t think it’s possible so long as Kim Jong-un is alive. He’d demand to be instated as king or something.”

So what do you think? Should we all book our trips to North Korea before the “authentic dystopian” experience is gone? Or will North Korea still be threatening war every month years from now?

Source: Press Net Japan, Yahoo! News Japan
Featured/top image: Cheong Wa Dae/Wikimedia Commons