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China-Japan-Koreas
S. Korea rules out absorbing N. Korea: official
2010-12-31
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea remains unchanged in its goal to reunify with North Korea through gradual integration, an official here said on Thursday, a day after Pyongyang accused Seoul of announcing a plan to absorb the communist state.

On Wednesday, the South's Unification Ministry outlined a series of steps that it said would lead to the denuclearization of the North and improve the lives of people in the impoverished neighbor ahead of the unification of the two Koreas. Hours later, Uriminzokkiri, the North's official Web site, said the 2011 plan underscores the South's intention to topple the communist regime, warning that an attempt to achieve unification by absorption would lead to "an armed clash and a calamity."

"It is not true that the South is seeking absorption," a Unification Ministry official said, commenting on the Uriminzokkiri editorial. "Peaceful and step-by-step unification has been and will remain the South's goal in dealing with the North."
The Southerners really don't want to absorb the costs of dealing with their crazy cousins to the north. South Korea just this generation has made first-world status, and the cost of integration with the North would be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The south would prefer that America or China cover that.
Posted by:Steve White

#6  Mojo, that would be nice. But to make a rough analogy, Russia made the shit sandwich once known as the DDR - yet it's West Germans who've had Solidarity tax deducted from their paychecks for 20 years now. All while 20-25% of (formerly) East Germans continue voting for the Communist Party, because free markets are just too mean and scary.

IIUC, SKs have been keen observers of German reunification, and would vastly prefer something like Anonymoose's plan - which would be better all round.
Posted by: RandomJD   2010-12-31 23:47  

#5  "All yours, China. You made the shit sandwich, now you get to eat it."
Posted by: mojo   2010-12-31 12:00  

#4  The logical thing for the South to do, if the North gets a more peaceful government, is to first flood the North with food in exchange for demilitarization (pointed South, that is), then send up aid to help them reestablish their agriculture.

Then it would be one major project a year to help the North raise itself up. Because the more they can help themselves, first, the better it will be in the long run.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2010-12-31 07:51  

#3  AFAIK this Artic only means that the SOKORS will not rush into integration + reunification wid the North.

* CHINESE MIL FORUM POSTERS > SOUTH KOREA U-TURNS ON TALKS [Beijing successfully convinces wary Seoul to return to talks]; + SOUTH KOREA IS ALSO TALKING ABOUT [conditional]DISMANTLING ITS OWN NUCLEAR PROGRAM.

* OTOH WAFF > CHINA IS PREPARED FOR WAR! | CHINA'S BOOOMING ECONOMY FUELING MILITARY MIGHT.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-12-31 05:47  

#2  It's the Helmut Cole deal with East and West Germany, Though yet so different as the entire country of NORK is a Gulag.
Posted by: newc   2010-12-31 00:38  

#1  Uncle Sugar's done
Posted by: Frank G   2010-12-31 00:23  

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