Dim prospects for Korean reunification

As Germany and Europe celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall military skirmishes have once more broken out between and North and South Korea, this time at sea. The border between the two states is still one of the most dangerous in the world, but how long that will last is unsure, writes the daily Die Presse. "As Europe commemorates with thanks the reunification of the continent, the Korean border town of Panmunjom is the scene of a ghastly daily spectacle. Martial South Korean border guards wearing sunglasses face off with grim North Koreans in a game of Cold War. The entire border is a death strip with machine gun nests, minefields and barbed wire. Is there hope for a reunification of the two Koreas? Unlikely. All the neighbouring states as well as the US have interests in maintaining the status quo. And reunification would be far more expensive for South Korea than it was for Germany. But 1989 taught the world that history is unpredictable."

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