Germany's chancellor called for Korean unity. Does Seoul want that?

The story of South and North Korea — two nations that share history, language and much of their cultural heritage — sounds familiar to Germans . Their own country spent decades divided by opposing regimes until geopolitical winds shifted and allowed East and West Germany to reunite peacefully in 1991 . Just two years later, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl visited the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the Korean Peninsula and expressed hope that South and North Korea would also be reunited by the end of the decade. That never materialized. Some 35 years since Germany achieved its dream of reunification, Seoul and Pyongyang are still bitterly divided by political systems, economy, and their geopolitical alliances .