Opening of the June 15 reunification era

There is the Monument to the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration in the campus of Seoul National University.

The monument made of granite, which is 4 meters high, 4 meters wide and 2.7 meters in length, portrays the two hands of the south and the north of Korea holding a triangular mark. The front side of the monument was written with letters “The June 15 South-North Joint Declaration illumining the way of the nation.”

The birth of the joint declaration is a historic event in history of reunification movement of the Korean nation. It means the opening of independent reunification era in which the Korean nation solves the issue of reunification independently, leaving the history of national division full of mistrust and confrontation behind. In consequence, the new era of national history produced by the publication of the June 15 joint declaration should be called the June 15 reunification era.

The June 15 reunification era is an era of independent reunification and era of national cooperation leading to national reunification, rejecting the foreign forces that have been hindering independent solution of the national issue with imperialist domination and intervention while inflicting national division upon the Korean nation.

The characteristic of the June 15 reunification era, above all, is an independent reunification era that embodies the idea of the “By Our Nation Itself.” Solving the reunification issue by the Korean people themselves implies reunifying the country without intervention and interference of the foreign forces by pooling efforts of the Korean nation. The idea of the “By Our Nation Itself” is a main idea of the joint declaration and core of the idea in present circumstance that Korea ’s reunification has not yet been realized owing to the US intervention and hindrance for over 60 years.

The second characteristic of the June 15 reunification era is an era of peaceful reunification aspiring after federation form of reunification. The most reasonable and realistic way is to establish a federal state, leaving ideas and systems existing in the south and the north of Korea intact in given condition that different ideas and systems exist in the south and the north. The reunification by form of federation is a way of peaceful reunification without dependence on armed force.

The another characteristic of the June 15 reunification era is an era of national cooperation promoting national reconciliation and unity by embodying the idea of the “By Our Nation Itself.” The joint declaration put an end to miserable history of the Korean people who speak the same language and have been making the same culture and history. It opened era of reconciliation, unity and cooperation of the Korean nation by elucidating concrete methods and ways to promote dialogue, contacts, cooperation and exchange between the south and the north of Korea.