ABSTRACT
The impact of the divided Korean peninsula has been destructive, and the cost has been astronomical to both South and North Korea. Most South Koreans used to dream of a reunified Korea without reservation until the 1980s, singing, “Our Wish is Reunification.” A good portion of South Koreans had family and relatives living in the North, and ethnonationalism was a prevalent form of nationalism, through which South Koreans perceived North Koreans and the Northern regime. However, the 21st-century South Korean wish for reunification is quite different, and Chapter 5 analyses the grassroots’ “cost-benefit nationalism” towards reunification.
