The Proliferation of Unification Discussions and the 『Sedae』 Literary Persecution in 1964

This article examines the historical context of the『Sedae』literary persecution, focusing on the discussion of unification. Until 1964, the year after the inauguration of the Park Chung-hee administration, there were limited discussions on unification, but the reunion of the Shingeumdan, which took place in the wake of the Tokyo Olympics, initiated the spread of the disappearing discussions about unification again. It was Hwang Yong-ju who raised a specific theory of unification along with the spread of unification discussions. Hwang Yong-ju was actively developing his national democracy through the monthly『Sedae』. His idea of a national democracy recognized Asian and African nationalism as an important factor for a democracy and included 'unification through modernization', his key slogan. As discussions on unification spread, anti-communist forces, including the Central Intelligence Agency, which believed that the current situation had risen to a form of a crisis in Korea, tried to scotch Hwang Yong-ju's theory of neutralization unification. The anti-communist forces thought that Hwang Yong-ju's theory of neutralization unification along with the circulating discussions of unification were contrary to the current policies. Through the questioning process at the National Assembly, Hwang Yong-ju's theory of neutralization unification emerged as an issue and expanded to the『Sedae』 literary persecution. In the end, when Hwang Yong-ju's theory of neutralization unification, which was an extension of the discussion about unification during the revolutionary period in April, resulted in the『Sedae』 literary persecution, the discussion about unification, was put on hold. Since then, the Park Chung-hee administration only showed a reduced perception of unification discussions and reaffirmed the existing limited unification theory. Discussions on unification became increasingly scarce in Korean society as only the regime-led unification theory was allowed within the reinforced anti-communism through the『Sedae』 literary persecution.