April 27: The Wire report by R. Akhil states that Kim Jong-un became the first North Korean leader to set foot in South Korea when he crossed the Military Demarcation Line, which separates the two Koreas, to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Peace House on April 27. The gradual process of mending ties through sports, cultural exchanges and the historic meet presents a lesson for several sparring countries across the world. This is particularly true for India and Pakistan, as the South Asian neighbors were also partitioned from one region and share a historical, socio-cultural and linguistic inheritance, as the two Koreas do. So the question remains of whether India and Pakistan be rid of their adamant attitudes and restart the athletic and cultural exchanges that have been on pause for years. This is a lesson they could take from the historic meeting in the Korean peninsula, which has witnessed much more violence and bloodshed than the Indian subcontinent in the last six decades. Over 12 lakh people are estimated to have been killed in the Korean War, as compared to over a lakh in the Kashmir conflict, the main bone of contention between India and Pakistan.
The Wire: Will India and Pakistan Learn from the Historic Korea Summit?
