金正日過世並沒有對這種看法造成太大改變。去年發生數起造成南韓軍員傷亡的攻擊事件，如延坪島事件和天安艦事件，引起南韓國內反統一聲浪的高漲，讓朝鮮半島的情勢陷入數十年來最緊張的一次。

Kim Jong-il's death has done little to change that view. Anti-unification ranks swelled last year when deadly attacks blamed on the North -- the shelling of an island close to the sea border and the sinking of a navy vessel -- raised tensions on the peninsula to the highest level in decades.

民調證實，隨著渴望統一的年長世代凋零，南韓民眾對於統一的想法產生改變，他們的後輩不願提供紓困資金給北韓社會，他們認為雙邊的共同之處越來越少。

Opinion polls confirm the changing sentiment as the older generation's longing to reunite is replaced by their children's unwillingness to foot the bill for bailing out a society in the North with which they feel less and less in common.

日前一項調查顯示，每4名受訪者中，就有1人反對統一，這是該機構10年來針對統一議題進行民調，反對者比例最高的一次。10年前，只有7％的人反對。

In a Gallup poll this week, one in four respondents were opposed to unification, the highest level seen in the agency's decade of surveys on the issue. A decade ago, only 7 percent were against unification.

今年10月由峨山政策研究學會進行的民調結果也凸顯了世代之間的差異。調查顯示，10％的20多歲年輕人認為，統一不是必要的；50多歲的受訪者中，只有5.5％持同樣想法。南韓4千8百萬人口中，30歲以下的人口約佔1／3。

Underscoring the generational divide, an October poll by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies showed that 10 percent of people in their 20s believed unification was unnecessary, compared with 5.5 percent in their 50s. About a third of the South's 48 million people are under 30.

另一方面，年長的南韓民眾仍保持追求一個韓國的民族目標，對出生在1950年代國家分裂之前的人來說更是如此。

On the other hand, the view that one Korea should remain the national goal is strong among older South Koreas, especially those who were alive before the 1950s split.

75歲的金洪俊在被問到統一是否是不可避免的事時，他回答：「憲法中就這麼寫了，不是嗎？」這名居住在首爾的退休教師說：「我認為這應該是政府各項作為的終極目標。」兩韓的憲法都假定他們對於整個朝鮮半島有管轄權。

"It says in the constitution, doesn't it?" said Kim Hong-joon, a 75-year-old retired teacher living in Seoul, asked if unification was anything other than inevitable. "I think it should be the ultimate goal of everything the government does." Both Koreas' constitutions assume they have jurisdiction over the entire peninsula.

支持統一的人數減少，讓南韓政府陷入尷尬的處境。南韓統一部長柳佑益日前向一群記者表示：「看似巨大的支出只是暫時的，當你仔細思考之後，這個數字一點也不龐大。」

Dwindling support for unification puts the Seoul government in an awkward position. "The seemingly enormous cost is only temporary, and when you think of it, it's not that large," South Korea's Unification Minister Yu Woo-ik recently told a group of reporters.

「這還在我們能負擔的範圍。此外，當你審視我們因分裂而付出的代價之後，你會發現那筆支出更大，且這筆支出還會持續累積。」

"It's a level that we are able to afford. Besides, when you look at the cost we're paying for having this division, there you have a much bigger cost and it's cost that keeps accumulating."

對那些逃離貧窮及壓迫，卻將家人仍在北韓的脫北者來說，他們對快速統一願望的衰退有特別深的感受。許多人擔心，留在故鄉的家人可能會被監禁，還可能被虐待。

The fading hope of any quick unification is perhaps most keenly felt by those who fled the poverty and persecution of the North but left family members behind. Many fear their loved ones are likely imprisoned back home, possibly subject to torture.

金松胡沿鴨綠江逃到中國，並於去年抵達南韓。他表示金正日之死並未改變任何事，也沒有跡象顯示北韓即將垮台，帶來統一。40歲的金松胡說：「我想要統一。」他把11歲的兒子和妻子留在北韓。

Kim Song-hu, who defected across the Yalu River into China and arrived in the South last year, said the death of Kim Jong-il had not changed anything and that there was no sign the regime was about to collapse and bring forward unification. "I want unification," said Kim, who is 40 and said he left his 11-year-old son and wife behind in the North.

「不過，這是現在這裡所有脫北者的願望，不論有沒有孩子，我們對統一的渴望更甚於任何其他事情。」

"But that's the same for all the defectors （5） who are here now, with or without kids, we want that more than anything else."

（路透Reuters）

1. peninsula

(n.) 半島

2. unification

(n.) 統一

3. homogeneity

(n.) 同質性

4. malnutrition

(n.) 營養不良

5. defector

(n.) 叛逃者，在南北韓關係脈絡下特指脫北者