On Unification

Today I went to North Korea. Pretty crazy, huh? Well, okay, so I only stepped in and turned around, but still, not a bad day trip.
This fantastic occurance took place on a tour of the DMZ. There are, understandably, many regulations as to what you can do while you are there, and we were led around by South Korean soldiers. You can only wear more conservative clothing, as there are North Koreans watching through binoculars, hoping to take pictures of people with holes in jeans or the like to use as propaganda as to why South Korea and more Western ways of life are inferior to life in North Korea. We traveled deep into the third tunnel that was found to have been dug through from North Korea to South Korea (they could prove this because of the direction of the dynamite holes, if it wasn't already clear enough), wearing helmets and crouching down to avoid hitting the top of the tunnel. Everywhere we went, not just the deep tunnel, was freezing cold (they really seemed to like air conditioning there, and my friend and I used a large plastic bag as an emergency blanket of sorts on the ride back!), and the fields and mountains were obscured by fog, covering everything in a mysterious veil, through which you could just barely see the tall North Korean flag pole in the distance, built 60m taller than the South Korean one to try to prove superiority.
I have heard various opinions on whether South Koreans expect unification in the future. A professor who spoke to us said that many of the older members of society think it is not only necessary, but inevitable, as they share a language and history, and as  many families were separated when the territories were split (we saw the Bridge of No Return that many crossed, choosing forever whether to stay in the North or the South). He believed that the younger generations saw how unification might not be practical, as the South might exploit the Northern workers who are already impoverished, and because unification might have to involve an aggressive takeover. Our guide through the DMZ said however that unification is the hope of all Koreans, almost a lifetime goal to right past wrongs, and that the country is only split in territory, but that there is still unity in the hearts of all Koreans.
My host sister seemed to think that unification would come in the near future as well. We raced a little two-seater bike cart through the Olympic Park (does this make us Olympians?), and as we sped past her friends' cart, she commented on how my competitiveness made me very Korean, as it is a part of the Korean identity.This competitiveness could keep both the South and the North from backing down, however, as both sides feel that they are correct in their actions and beliefs. Even before the line of demarcation was drawn, the South and North had distinct cultures, even language variations, simply because of natural geographic boundaries. Current tensions only widened the gap between the two. As I see it, how can two countries hope to negotiate unity if they are pointing guns at each other and creating boundaries with landmines? If unification were to happen, there would still be landmines to cross before full peace and trust could be achieved in the minds of both countries citizens.