Nurtamin (Korea)

“Visiting North Korea and South Korea: Finding the Beauty of
Similarities and Diversities”
Have you ever imagined visiting Korea as your dream vacation? Which Korea do you want to visit? North Korea or South Korea? Probably, people think that Korea does not have two regions. In fact, it consists of two regions namely North Korea and South Korea. In term of their historical account, they are believed as the Altaic Race or Proto-Altaic which still has relationship with Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese, etc. However, the unity of both Korea does not last longer. The conflicts between them become one of the civil war which faces severe problems. Hence, United Nations tries to solve this conflict by making a solutive way to make them united called “The Unification of North Korea and South Korea.” It is done because they assume that both Korea are similar even though they are different in some ways.
Beginning with the similarities, they basically have some similar aspects. Firstly, let us concern on their language. They both have similar language system called “Hangeul”. It is the symbol system which was created by King Sejong (1397-1450) from Joseon Dynasty as the alphabet of Korean. When he tried to create Hangeul, the alphabet consisted of 28 characters (17 consonants and 11 vowels). The vowels were made based on the philosophy of “Three Basic Components of Life”, such as: Heaven, Earth, and Human. To date, the common letters which are used consisting of 40 characters (10 single vowels, 11 double vowels, 14 single consonants, and 5 double consonants).
On the other hand, North Korea and South Korea are also same in term of tradition or habit. First and foremost, both Korean choose the places to live in based on geomancy (a method of divination which interprets markings on the ground or how handfuls dirt land when tossed). They believe that some places have positive and negative energy which have to be balanced. They also assume that house should be built to the south in order to get sunlight as much as possible. Moreover, Korean usually has a party to celebrate the new house either those who have just moved or those who have just got married. The party is called “Jibdeuri”. They usually invite their siblings, close friends, and neighbors to visit the new house.
Despite their similarities, North Korea and South Korea also differ in some aspects. North Korea’s political system is Democratic Republic which is communist and authoritative. It includes in one of the single party under the unity front which is lead by Korea Labor Party. The governmental system follows the ideology of Juche which is conceptualized by the former leader of North Korea namely Kim II-sung. On the other hand, South Korea has its own political system. It is Republic. South Korea divides their governmental system into three parts: Executive, Judicative, and Legislative. The President and the prime minister work together in executive board. Also, the representative council has the responsibility in legislative board and the constitutional court takes the responsibility in judicative board.
 Besides, they also have different superiority. North Korea is also known as the best region in term or military personnel. It has about 1.106.000 active soldiers and 470.000 reservists. Also, it has 3500 tanks, 3060 guns, 17.900 artilleries, and 500-800 helicopters. In term of North Korean Navy, it has 63 ships, 3 frigates, and 261 Amphibi ships. Moreover, in term of Air Force, it has 440 jets, 215 planes, and 302 helicopters. In other case, South Korea has its own superiority in entertainment. Nowadays, it becomes more popular because of its entertainment, such as: romantic dramas, boybands, and girlbands. It entertains people so much through its talented boybands or girlbands. Therefore, there are some countries which adopt its entertainment.
After knowing the comparison between North Korea and South Korea, we can see that both Korea are not always similar in some ways, but they also differ in some aspects. Comparing North Korea and South Korea can open up our mind to see the beauty of similarities and diversities that exist between them. It is significant to be done as a source of information about both Korea. Lastly, this comparison is expected to give more information and understanding for those who want to visit both Korea someday.