The recent developments that are raising the possibility of a united Korea might have been in development throughout the life of South Korean President Moon Jae-In, and at least for five years with Kim Jong-Un.

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Born into a family of North Korean refugees at a relocation center on Geoje Island, South Korea, Moon established a personal history of standing against authoritarian abuses of due process against those committed of crimes against the state. This led to him devoting his education to becoming a civil rights lawyer.

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When Moon Jae-In won the 2017 South Korean presidential election, he aimed to revive the sunshine policy, pledged to ease tension between North Korea, and promised to work on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.

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Five years ago, Kim called for the reunification of Koreas in a pre-recorded address. “An important issue in putting an end to the division of the country and achieving its reunification is to remove confrontation between the North and the South.”

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Perhaps a motivating factor for Kim to investigate more open relations with South Korea is the fact that North Korea has been isolated from the vigorous economic growth throughout the Pacific Rim nations.

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According to the World Bank, North Korea’s $28.5 billion GDP is dwarfed by South Korea’s $1.4 trillion GDP, Russia’s $1.3 trillion GDP, China’s $11.2 trillion GDP, Japan’s $5 trillion GDP, India’s $2.3 trillion GDP, and Thailand’s $406.8 billion GDP.

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Mike Pompeo elucidated the future between North Korea and South Korea during a joint news conference with Kang Kyung-Wha, “If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on par with our South Korean friends.”

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The economic motivation of North Korea has been noticed by no less than Justin Raimondo, editor of Antiwar.com, who observed that the ruling North Korean Workers Party’s “‘military first’ socio-economic program has been abandoned in favor of an ‘economy first’ initiative.”

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In addition, KCNA Watch reported that Kim Jong-Un repeatedly clarified, “it is our consistent and principled stand to vigorously advance the north-south relations and write a new history of national reunification by the concerted efforts of our nation to be proud of in the world.”

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There could also be planned events that show North Korea and South Korea’s desire for a possible reunification, and one of these events was the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

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During that event, North Korea and South Korea marched under a united flag for the first time in Winter Olympics history.

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Kim’s stance may show North Korea’s true colors and may hint a possible reunification between the North and the South.