Close, But So Far

Do you know the difference of South Korea and North Korea? Two countries are the Korean race, but everything is different. South Korea and North Korea were the same country and still also the same country. Nowadays many people think difference of two countries is just a political thought. South Korea and North Korea have a lot of difference even though they are the same country.

The first difference between South Korea and North Korea is the political structure. In 1945, the United States and Soviet Union helped the southern and northern halves of the country respectively. Then South Korea follows the capitalism. South Korea citizens have the right to vote for the president. The government of South Korea is divided into executive, judicial, and legislative. South Korea citizens can compete with others for their better life and keep their property. In contrast, a political structure of North Korea is the communism. North Korea has a centralized government under the rigid control of the communist. North Korea citizens just have to follow their leader and pursue the common benefit.

The second difference between South Korea and North Korea is the language. South Korea and North Korea are still use the same language Korean. However, different thing is South Koreans make a lot of new coined word almost everyday. South Korea accepts the loanword and change for using easily. Also, South Korea tries to keep traditional forms of Korean. On the other hand, North Korea does not make and accept the new coined word or loanword. They just change other language in own language Korean. After long time, some word meaning also changed, so South Korea and North Korea can not understand each other’s language easily even though they speak the same language.

The last difference between South Korea and North Korea is the culture. South Korea shares the traditional culture with North Korea, but the two Koreas have developed distinct contemporary forms of culture. South Korea accepts other countries’ culture and tries to make a new culture. Those are affected the clothes, the food, and the life of South Korea citizens. In contrast, the culture of North Korea is of protected by the North Korean government. North Korea citizens respect their old leader Il Sung Kim and new leader Jung Il Kim. They are affected by North Korea's literature, popular music, theater, and film.

South Korea and North Korea are located each other very closely, but also very far. Long time ago, they had a lot of same things, but it is changed. It means they have a big racial problem. It is so misfortune to each country. They do not try to fix up that quickly. They have to arrange peacefully and slowly.