Failure to Reunite
"Reunification is still at the centre of Korean national life. Over forty years of division have not changed this. The division is felt as bitterly and as sadly as ever." (Halliday and Cummings) During the war, leaders in both Koreas desired to unite the two
sides. For North Korea, attacking South Korea looked to be the best way to
be united under its own government. South Korean president
Syngman Rhee desired a communist-free, united Korea. However the UN, led by the
US, wasn't as eager to unite the Koreas. When President Truman dismissed General MacArthur, the idea of victory over the North evaporated, and the UN's goal shifted to preventing communism from spreading.
On June 15, 2000, the North and South produced a joint declaration regarding unification.
On October 4, 2007, another agreement followed.