“Unification” has been a key term in the political vocabulary of the two Koreas for decades, and while North Korea has abandoned the idea, it officially remains the ultimate goal of the South to this day.

Despite this, there has not been a single moment since 1945 when Korean unification was possible — at least peaceful unification through negotiations and compromise.

A closer look at world history shows why this should not come as a surprise.

Over the past 80 years, there have been two successful cases of state unification: Vietnam and Germany. In addition, there have been three unsuccessful