The two Koreas

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

It is very sad, and at the same time alarming, to hear about what is happening between the part of Asia that was once known only as “Korea”. Since the country split into two, after one had adopted a different ideology, the parts had been identified to the rest of the world as North Korea and South Korea, later shortened to Nokor and Sokor.

The separated population has been torn, not only physically, and ideology, but also emotionally, because some families were separated, not by choice, but by sheer location. For all the years since the separation, many from both areas had been longing for the loved ones they could no longer see or communicate with as much as they wished.

For a while there were hopes of better understanding between their two leaderships when reunions were allowed between families seeking them. Dramatic meetings held at the borders of both sections were featured in the media, sparking hopes of a more permanent reunion and fusion.

Such hopes have apparently flown out of the window, figuratively speaking, with the latest developments between the two, with the North having declared itself in a state of war with the South. Suddenly, they were not only separated, they have become outright enemies.

The shadow of war over the two Koreas has also managed to dim their prospects with other countries who are now worrying over their nationals working or residing there. The Philippines, with its about 44,000 citizens there, is particularly worried. And it has reasons.

As the new Holy Father, Pope Francis, has enjoined, let us pray for a solution to the problems that beset the two Koreas. Let us hope that they take a lesson from what had happened to Germany during the existence of the Berlin Wall, and how much more prosperous and happier their people became after they broke that wall down. Let us pray for the Koreas, even as we also pray that a similar thing does not happen to us, with the rumblings and the fidgettings of our Muslim brothers in Mindanao.*