[Opinion] National Unity Requires Clear Standards

In the 20th presidential election, candidate Yoon Seok-yeol was elected by an ultra-narrow margin of 0.73%. This 0.73% difference in votes is evidence of the deep conflict between the winner and the loser. On the other hand, it can be interpreted as a sign that national unity is desperately needed. After the election was confirmed, President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol presented a message of ‘unity and prosperity’ during his first official visit to the National Cemetery.

The message of ‘unity’ signifies a serious acknowledgment of the public conflicts revealed during the election process and its results. Various forms of conflict surfaced throughout this election process and outcome. In other words, conflicts arose between classes, regions, ideologies, generations, and genders. Especially with the addition of gender conflict during the election process, the nature of the conflicts became more diverse and complex. This is a warning that our society has reached a point where it can no longer neglect these conflicts.

Conflict obstructs national unity. To find ways to achieve national unity, President-elect Yoon established a Special Committee for National Unity within the transition committee. The establishment of the National Unity Committee is the first step toward becoming a president not only for those who supported him but for all citizens, including those who opposed him. National unity holds value beyond merely healing conflicts. Unity is the ‘path to development’ that consolidates the nation’s energy, the ‘path of consideration’ that embraces and heals marginalized citizens, and the ‘path of harmony’ that washes away conflicts and confrontations while respecting one another.

However, attempting unity clumsily can be worse than not trying at all. It could inadvertently reopen wounds and amplify conflicts. Excessive ambition to achieve 100% unity is also to be avoided. Therefore, unity is a difficult issue and requires clear standards.

The standard for unity centers on minimizing conflicts and maximizing effectiveness. The criterion for unity is to heal the ‘division of hearts (=ideologies)’ to establish national identity and legitimacy, and to correct the ‘problem of lack of justice’ caused by misperceptions of various social phenomena. The ‘division of hearts’ arises from a leftist historical perspective. This leftist view denies the legitimacy of the Republic of Korea and, through continuous socialist ideological struggles, denies the identity of liberal democracy. The result of this ‘division of hearts’ is anti-constitutionalism, anti-freedom, and anti-democracy. This means that ‘unity of hearts’ based on the correct constitutional spirit and historical perspective must be the foundation. Therefore, the first criterion for national unity is to break away from the leftist ideology that caused the ‘division of hearts.’

Human society, composed of diverse elements, inevitably generates conflicts. To wisely resolve these conflicts, social justice is necessary. For social justice to be achieved, the interests of all must be fairly considered. Through the processes of rapid growth and democratization, we have tolerated wrong phenomena as if they were right. In particular, the ‘lack of justice’ that tolerates equality of outcomes is a major problem. The equality we must uphold is equality of value and equality of opportunity, not equality of outcomes. Equality of value is a fundamental human right based on human dignity and equality before the law, and equality of opportunity is equality in socio-economic activities, an institutional mechanism that allows socially disadvantaged individuals to move upward in status.

Unity is fundamentally based on harmony without uniformity. In other words, unity pursues ‘individuality within harmony’ and maintains ‘harmony of differences’ that preserves diversity within similarity, while rejecting assimilation. These standards are necessary conditions for the success of unity measures. Therefore, the future actions of the Special Committee for National Unity are highly anticipated.

Jo Young-gi, Chairman of the Advanced Unification Research Group, Korea Peninsula Advancement Foundation