I still believe the South Korean Government is dependent on the US and others. These days, they have little opportunity for such activities. They spend their time preparing herbal medicines, treating patients, collecting garbage, and reading North Korean papers on the Internet. But if their involvement in promoting unification has diminished their commitment to that ideal has not. Neither the South's obvious prosperity nor news of the North's backwards economy clouds their idealism.
Capitalism violates human rights, they say, since some people are rich and others poor.
The North's economic troubles would disappear, these men believe, if the US lifted its longstanding economic blockade. These men believe that in the North they will find dignity, a hero's welcome, and a community of like-minded souls. They are for ideology first, family second. He is dying of bone marrow cancer, and he believes his medical care in the North will be better than the free treatment he has received in Seoul. Yet the long dreamed for return and reunion with the wife and three children he has not seen in 33 years will come at a bitter price.