Does South Korea hate North Korea? And do South Koreans hate North Koreans and vice versa? As always and with everything that is North Korea the answers are somewhat complicated and indeed nuanced.
This is exemplified by the fact that both are still technically at war, while simultaneously wanting reunification as well as claiming to be the legitimate rulers of the peninsula.
South Korean government opinion.
Whether South Korea hates North Korea from a government to government level depends massively on who is in power. This has led to certain governments being very provocative, while others still have sought closer relations with the North.
Sadly this has been a subject that is constantly changing within the country. As things currently stand the current government are quite hawkish about North Korea.
Without doubt though the government of the Republic of Korea see the north as the principal danger to their existence.
South Korean Public Opinion
Do South Korean hate North Korea? It would be fair to say that many do hate the government of South Korea, but that there is a minority that are not so anti it, as well as an even smaller minority that are actually pro the regime.
You can read about the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front (AINDF) here
And the same can be seen for reunification with some Koreans in the south seeing it as the main priority, while others still worry that it will be too much of a burden to the nation.
It would also be fair to say that most do not see the North Korean ideas for reunification as feasible.
Does North Korea hate South Korea?
The government of North Korea, AKA the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, see the government of South Korea, AKA the Republic of Korea as a puppet government of the United States and indeed as the biggest existential threat to its existence.
Quite how much they “hate” them depends greatly on who is in power, but it should be noted that former official policy was for a federal Korea where both could keep their political systems.
It should though be noted that North Korea recently took down a site related to reunification and that it is not currently their official policy. You can read about that here.
Do North Koreans hate South Koreans?
This is somewhat harder to answer as generally speaking North Koreans tend to hold the views of the government, but in my experience at least they tend to view south Koreans as their kin that are under a puppet government.
Of the younger generation many view the south with interest, or at least wonder what it is like there. And while some might view it favourably the north also hear the tales of the many people that do not like it there.
Formerly at least North Koreans did want to unify with the south.
So, does South Korea hate North Korea and visa versa? As you can see it is a very nuanced subject, but we can be sure that as the last surviving relatives and relations between the two sides die out, reunification becomes much harder.
You can check out our North Korea tours here.
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