Humanities and Unification Education for Unification

This paper explores the essential meaning and direction of unification education aimed at achieving peaceful unification on the Korean Peninsula. The author argues that unification education should present a clear vision of peaceful unification and systematically teach it to students. To this end, the paper proposes an integrated approach grounded in ‘Humanities for Unification,’ emphasizing a balanced teaching of universal values such as freedom, human rights, and democracy, alongside the necessity of unification. The paper also explores the challenges of current unification education from three perspectives: the tangled issues of unification education, the problem of neutrality, and the concept of ‘halfway unification education,’ while seeking alternatives to address these challenges. The author particularly emphasizes the use of the humanities as a theoretical toolkit to encourage students to autonomously reflect on and explore unification issues, advocating for teaching methods that cultivate emotional empathy and a practical commitment to unification. It emphasizes the need for unification education to be respected as an independent field while actively interacting with democratic citizenship education, peace education, and global citizenship education. Additionally, the paper highlights the importance of academically distinguishing between the concept of unification and its justification. In conclusion, the paper asserts that unification education must inspire students to perceive unification as both an ‘irresistible and inevitable’ goal. It highlights the need to cultivate civic competencies that empower students to actively participate in the unification process. To achieve this, unification education should offer concrete and context-rich narratives, providing students with meaningful and experiential learning opportunities.