Korean reunification and Frederic's taste for geopolitical puzzles

Frederic asks whether North and South Korea might one day reunite.

The Wonders say the probability has always existed but is blocked by the personalities and egos involved.

They describe a benefit within world politics to the Koreas remaining separate: the peninsula serves as a place where China and the United States can exercise warlike behaviour without going to war directly, recalling that China fought the United States there under the pretext of communism, which they call an illusion and excuse.

The Koreas are pawns in a larger game now also involving Russia, which has stepped into the space left as China reduced its support of North Korea, making the situation a microcosm of the world.

Under present psychologies and belief structures they do not see reunification for at least another 75 years or more, and they describe North Korean leadership's pride in standing against great powers while relying on a great power's support as small man syndrome.

Asked whether his curiosity about this is personal or broader, they tell Frederic he is curious about virtually everything and that such geopolitics is a puzzle his mind enjoys, warning that these puzzles have real-world consequences and that some people actually instigate the protagonists to see how things shift, which is like poking a bear that eventually swats back.