Korean union flag

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Korean union flag
Unification flag of Korea (pre 2006) .svg

Vexillological symbol :
Aspect ratio: 2: 3
Officially accepted: 1991

The Korean Unification Flag ( Korean 통일기 or 한반도기 , English Korean Unification Flag ) is the unofficial flag for community events and appearances by North and South Korea . It is mainly used at sporting events such as the Olympic Games .

description

The background of the flag is white. In the center there is a blue outline of the Korean peninsula and the island of Jejudo in the southwest in all versions . Later the flag was added to the island of Ulleungdo in the east, the Liancourt rock in the east and the Socotra rock in the southwest.

criticism

The flag with Ulleungdo from 2002
The flag with Ulleungdo and the Liancourt rock from 2003

Far right groups in South Korea reject the flag. They burned them during demonstrations, along with the flag of North Korea and pictures of the North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un . Former South Korean diplomat Kim Sung Han said the flag would romanticize the current political situation on the basis of "romanticized nationalism". One must carefully ask about the national identity of South Korea. Kim Sung Han sees the flag as a distraction from the dispute over the North Korean nuclear program. North Korea uses the flag to signal that it is not dangerous. In the younger generation, interest in a Korean reunification would decline. Only 40% of South Koreans endorsed the idea of ​​the union flag at the Winter Games in 2018. At the time of the 2006 Asian Games, 76% of South Koreans welcomed the use of the flag.

Japan removed Ulleungdo and Liancourt from the flag in the run-up to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang . The affiliation of the islands is controversial between South Korea and Japan.

history

The flag was developed in advance of the Asian Games in 1990 .

The flag was first used at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Japan and the 1991 World Junior Soccer Championships in Portugal . Both Korean states marched together under the flag at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia .

For the Asian Games in 2002 , the association flag was added to include the island of Ulleungdo and, after the Summer Universiade of 2003, for the Winter Asian Games of 2003, to include the Liancourt rock. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece , the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy and the 2006 Asian Games , the athletes marched into the stadiums with the association flag at the opening ceremonies, but each competed under their own flag. When the dispute over the Socotra Rock between Japan, South Korea and China escalated in 2006 , it also appeared on the flag. In 2007 the flag was shown when South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun entered North Korea in 2007.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in the People's Republic of China , the flag was not used at the request of North Korea, but North Koreans used the flag in 2010 and 2012 to bid farewell to South Korean personalities who were returning to their homeland from the demilitarized zone . At the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, athletes from both Koreas competed together again under the union flag. However, the disputed islands were removed here after a Japanese objection.

Web links

Commons : Korean Unification Flag  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b The Atlantic: The Korean Unification Flag Isn't as Unifying as It Seems , February 9, 2018 , accessed February 12, 2018.
  2. a b c d e A history of the unified flag the two Koreas will march under at the Winter Olympics . In: Quartz , January 19, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018. 
  3. a b 2015 SU Update: Both Koreas Marching Together Again after 2003 SU? . Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  4. TheUnitedCorea: S-Korea President Roh Moo-hyun enters North . October 1, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  5. ^ JA Mangan, Fan Hong: Post-Beijing 2008: Geopolitics, Sport and the Pacific Rim . Routledge. October 18, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  6. agree korea: South Korean pastor in North Korea / South Korean Pastor in North Korea . October 17, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  7. ^ South Korea pastor arrested on return from North visit . In: BBC , August 20, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2014. 
  8. agree korea: S. Korean activist crosses border in Panmunjom! - Ro Su Hui . July 5, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  9. ^ Paul Watson: South Korea good, North Korea bad? Not a very useful outlook - Paul Watson . July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  10. 한반도기, 화합 과 평화 의 상징 맞나? . BBC. 23rd January 2018.
  11. ^ Olympic Korean Peninsula Declaration . International Olympic Committee. 20th January 2018.
  12. Annex B: Korean Unification Flag . International Olympic Committee. 20th January 2018.