For its part, the government in the north has reacted sharply to the Bush government's antagonistic policy moves. Pyongyang has threatened to end its moratorium on missile testing and development of its nuclear program. If that's a hard-line position then so be it. The partial steps toward reunification have proved immensely popular across the peninsula, including in the south. In late February a third round of reunions of family members from both sides of the border was held.
Talks continue about opening up rail links and increasing economic cooperation.
Seoul and Pyongyang have also conducted negotiations about constructing a dam in the border area to try to limit the catastrophic effects of flooding during the monsoon season. Some of the capitalist corporations in the south are building up investments in north Korea. Daewoo workers protest The capitalists in neocolonial south Korea face other problems. Immense pressure from imperialist investors to clip the wings of the giant conglomerates, or chaebols, that dominate the economy, is driving them to confront the industrial workers and their unions. On February 13 the regime mobilized 4,000 cops to assault and evict several hundred workers and family members occupying the company's plant in the city of Inchon.