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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Korean reunification 'drawing near' |
| 2010-12-11 |
| [Al Jazeera] South Korea's president has said unification with North Korea has become more likely as people in the North become more aware of the South's affluence. Lee Myung-bak said on Thursday, during a trip to Malaysia, that residents of the communist nation know the world is changing, but did not elaborate on how their knowledge has expanded, or how soon unification would come. "Reunification will definitely come," Lee said in a speech marking the liberation of the Korean peninsula from Japanese colonial rule. "I believe that the time has come to start discussing realistic policies to prepare for that day such as a reunification tax." Heightened tensions Lee's comments come amid a period of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula after the North shelled a South Korean island close to a disputed maritime border, killing at least four people. The North has blamed the South for sparking the exchange of artillery fire last month and criticised both Seoul and its US allies for "provocative" military drills. The two states are still technically at war having only signed a ceasefire in 1953 and since coming to power in 2008, Lee has abandoned the so-called "Sunshine Policy" of his predecessor for a more strident stance. Lee said on Friday that North Korea's new understanding of circumstances in the outside world is "an important change that no one can stop". He added that South Korea has a responsibility to ensure that the North's 23 million people enjoy basic rights, and that Seoul should use its economic power to prepare for unification. One way Lee proposed was a "reunification tax" to help fund the expected $1 trillion it could cost when the two Koreas eventually rejoin. Costly reunification He also said it was now time to start saving for the massive cost of reuniting with the North, whose economy has been driven close to ruin by central economic planning, heavy military expenditure and years of famine. North Korea is one of the world's poorest countries, with annual gross national income of about $24bn in 2009 - less than three per cent the size of the South's economy. The cost of reunification could wreak havoc on South Korea's economy, with a state-funded research agency saying it would raise the tax bill for South Koreans by the equivalent of two percentage points annually for 60 years. Opinion polls, however, show more than 60 per cent of South Koreans want unification, but they would prefer it happen later rather than sooner because of the cost. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 and the Norks tunnel like moles. Diggers by nature, apparently....kinda like the Paleos |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-12-11 16:52 |
| #8 Also, North Korea is rich in a wide variety of minerals and would be a very wealthy country because of mining, if there was a rational government there. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2010-12-11 16:42 |
| #7 These large reunification numbers bandied about don't include the positive economic benefits that the reunified North Koreans bring with them, Like a huge new emerging market for consumer goods, manufacturing and productivity assets...etc |
| Posted by: Mikey Hunt 2010-12-11 13:30 |
| #6 JOE! Knows. Good trades for used jeans back then. Russian Traveler: Holy shit I made it to Paris! French Traveler: Oh shit, this must be Moscow :( StationMaster: Welcome to Warsaw. |
| Posted by: Zombie Hillary Lover 2010-12-11 10:35 |
| #5 Yeah Joe. I also believe that the influence of millions of Russian Women, "going berzerkoid" over LEVI 501's, helped set the stage for the fall of the Soviet Union. |
| Posted by: junkiron 2010-12-11 03:00 |
| #4 South Korea should start a tradition of a month long series of huge barbecues during a time of year when the wind blows from the South. The smell of all that food cooking wafting over the border would be more powerful than any propaganda they could produce. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2010-12-11 02:08 |
| #3 Soviet girls went berzerkoid over BARBIE DOLLS during the Reagan-Gorby era - not sure how Mattel is going to accomplish same widout DPRK girls first thinking of eating the dolls, not playing wid them??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-12-11 01:22 |
| #2 You pick it NORK. There are Russians and US. South Korea has been a beautiful investment. They are clipping along. What are you going to do PL? Make your choice very soon please. China wants more time. You pick. |
| Posted by: newc 2010-12-11 01:07 |
| #1 Property rights. Governmental responsibilities. Trade and ties. Military obligation. protocol with China. Trade agreements, treaties, one family, one military, where do you lean? kick it up a notch or two, or be P@WNED by China. Got it JuNg UN? |
| Posted by: newc 2010-12-11 00:54 |