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I was in S. Korea for a bit and I heard a North Korean ex-patriot speak and she said something I thought was really wise. Which was - what's in it for S. Korea
by vivekd 8y ago
I was in S. Korea for a bit and I heard a North Korean ex-patriot speak and she said something I thought was really wise. Which was - what's in it for S. Korea when it comes to reconciliation? N. Korea is way behind in terms of technology, infrastructure, standard of living. If there were any sort of reunification, it would fall mostly on S. Korea's shoulders to build N. Korea up to a reasonable standard of living, and that would involve committing to an enormous public expenditure for a very long time.
S. Korean leaders may publically speak about the desire for reconciliation, but it's unlikely that they would seriously pursue it considering the economic and political strain it would place on S. Korea.
N. Koreans have a much greater interest in reunification than the South does. But that interest doesn't extend to those in power in the North who would certainly be reluctant to give up that power.
So while reunification might seem like a nice sentiment, it doesn't seem like something that those in power of either side actually want.
- conanbatt 8y agoEconomically speaking, it would add millions of people to the working stock of south korea, plus extensive land to build new cities and such. It would guarantee decades of profitable investment and growth.
- kalleboo 8y agoThe Wikipedia article for East/West German unification has a quote of a cost for reunification of about 10% of South Koreas GDP/year over a 20 year period. And North Korea 2018 appears to have a lot more catching up to do than Eastern Germany had in 1989. Long-term I'm sure it would be profitable, but would South Korea dare make that investment in their current period of tremendous growth? The opportunity cost loss is massive. Would US/China help invest?
- conanbatt 8y agoIf N.Korea liberalized its economy private capital will do wonders, from everywhere in the world. The costs of the bureaucrats to create passports and the sort is negligible. It would be different if the government wanted to build schools, cities, buildings and the such, but that is an option not a necessity. In principle, I would not make the government pay for anything significant and it would sort itself out.
- vtange 8y agoBut South Korea does not need more working stock. They already have a tough time keeping their younger population employed.[0] Also as North Korea is mostly mountainous there's not a whole lot of new "city-building" area. [0] https://tradingeconomics.com/south-korea/youth-unemployment-rate https://tradingeconomics.com/south-korea/youth-unemployment-...
- conanbatt 8y agoStrange is the person that disdains the fruits of other's labor.