File photo of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak On Sunday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak proposed a tax to begin to save for the cost of reunifying the Korean peninsula , despite the possibility of worsening relations with North Korea in the process. Lee expressed optimism about reunification while maintaining demands that North Korea abandon its nuclear arms ambitions . In a speech commemorating the 65th anniversary of the Korean liberation from Japanese rule, Lee stated he "believe[s] that the time has come to start discussing realistic policies to prepare for that day [of reunification] such as a reunification tax." The tax would fund the absorption of the North Korean economy — which is less than three percent of the size of the South Korean economy — and could cost up to $1 trillion, according to New York Times ' sources. However, "North Korea will take a unification tax as the expression of a South Korean attempt to prepare for a sudden collapse of the North Korean government," according to Kim Yong-hyun, an analyst at Dongguk University in Seoul . Additionally, while opinion polls show that more than 60\% of South Koreans want unification, these polls also show that South Koreans would prefer that reunification happen later due to the cost.
File photo of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak On Sunday, South Korean President proposed a tax to begin to save for the cost of reunifying the , despite the possibility of worsening relations with in the process. Lee expressed optimism about reunification while maintaining demands that North Korea abandon its . In a speech commemorating the 65th anniversary of the Korean liberation from rule, Lee stated he "believe[s] that the time has come to start discussing realistic policies to prepare for that day [of reunification] such as a reunification tax." The tax would fund the absorption of the North Korean economy — which is less than three percent of the size of the South Korean economy — and could cost up to $1 trillion, according to ' sources. However, "North Korea will take a unification tax as the expression of a South Korean attempt to prepare for a sudden collapse of the North Korean government," according to Kim Yong-hyun, an analyst at in . Additionally, while opinion polls show that more than 60\% of South Koreans want unification, these polls also show that South Koreans would prefer that reunification happen later due to the cost.
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Lee Myung-bak
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Korean peninsula
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North Korea
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nuclear arms ambitions
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Japanese
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New York Times
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Dongguk University in Seoul
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