More than the physical division of the border, the gulf in ideology could prove the biggest obstacle to a rapprochement with the outside world.
The soldier, a 22-year-old army sergeant identified only by his surname, Lim, fled with his weapon after opening fire on fellow members of the 22nd infantry division in the border town of Goseong, Gangwon province, on Saturday night.
Infantry divisions normally consisted of three brigades with an attached commando unit, although some infantry divisions could have up to eight brigades however most infantry divisions along the border were understrength, primarily due to desertion.
On 21 December 1978, Kampuchea's new-found strength was tested when a Vietnamese offensive, consisting of two divisions, crossed the border and moved towards the town of Kratie, while other support divisions were deployed along local routes to cut off the logistical tail of Kampuchean units.
One playing in New Jersey, one in New York City (either in a new stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park or perhaps in a new building next to Yankee Stadium) and a second-division club on the border of Queens and Nassau County?
While the new recruits were completing training, ten divisions were deployed to the border regions of Long An, Đồng Tháp and Tây Ninh provinces.
He said India could not countenance any redrawing of the border, or further division of the country on religious lines.
These were all voices that grew from the division of the US-Mexico border and demanded a different world.
Speaking in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Mr. Putin said further expansion to Russia's borders would prolong the divisions of the cold war.
If secession is approved, the 2005 peace deal that established the referendum requires the parties to work on a raft of agreements, to settle issues like demarcation of the border, oil-revenue sharing, the fate of the oil-rich Abyei region (which straddles the north-south border), citizenship and division of the country's vast international debt.
