I learned Mike Breen is in his own heart of hearts a satirist. So, I’ll read this as a pun on prognosticating frauds.

Back in 2004 you wrote the book The Koreans: Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies. As to the last part of the title, “Where Their Future Lies,” how did you do on your soothsaying, looking back seven years later? And are there any new predictions for the future of South Korea?

My track record on predicting specifics in Korea has been worse that the proverbial monkey picking stocks. But I feel I have a nose for the deep trend. In 1986, at a lunch with the US ambassador I said I thought democracy was around the corner. That was because the way I noticed the people around me changing, the people in and out of power. The lunch guests and diplomats looked at me as if I was nuts. In the book, I stuck to two forecasts – the Koreans will keep growing. They’ve left poverty behind and will never go back there. Second, they will be unified. Even if everyone is against it now, they’ll still unify when the moment comes. My prediction now? Something is coming down on the North Korea front in the next 100 years. Remember these words. North Korea will be a democracy one day and its people will be free.

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Filed under: Korea Tagged: busan haps, mike breen, South Korea