Observations on the Border Politics of Cyprus and the Koreas: National Reflexes to a Globalised World

Abstract

The conceptualisation and construction of borders have been an extremely difficult sociopolitical aspect of our modern times. Even more problematic are the borders opened within a society that lived together once. Two such borders between two societies that have separated for political reasons are between the two Koreas and Cyprus. The Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) in South Korea, still an intransigent border, comes across as an extreme example of a 'ready to unite' nation's borders; however, looked at in scrutiny it shows a very touristy nature. The Green Line on the other hand is almost the complete opposite of the DMZ where the border has been re-opened for the last six years. The aim here is to identify such similarities and differences between the perception and reception of such borders.