S Korea puts economic unification tab at $500 billion

How much would it cost to just buy every South Korean a red Kim Jong Un pin?

S Korea puts economic unification tab at $500 billion

And who will lead this this unified utopia? President Park must think she can use a nice hunk of that 500 Billion to pay-off the Kim Dynasty to make them go away quietly.

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141483/sue-mi-terry/a-korea-whole-and-free

But to me this smells more like 1972 all over again.

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/dprk-perspectives-korean-reunification-after-the-july-4th-joint-communiqu%C3%A9

Reunification, the giant carrot trap that South Korean leaders can't get enough of. There is more of a chance of seeing President Park strapped to the main gun of a M-2002 than seeing a unified Korea. This is a bad joke that just keeps coming back.

Maybe China can help out with this reunification tab, being as how they are responsible for North Korea existing today. If it weren't for China supporting the North Korean side during the Korean War, we wouldn't have had the Kim Dynasty dragging down the economy, keeping the population under such tight control and so isolated from the rest of the world, the rampant starvation, etc.

Papi2013Nov. 19, 2014 - 10:26PM JST The payment for unification tab will come from the South Korean and global investors. There are $10 trillion worth of North Korean natural resources that are buried deep in North Korean mountains, including precious metals, gold, uranium and natural gas deposits

There could be 100 trillion dollars worth of natural resources in the whole of North Korea. But, it means absolutely squat until someone answer the most simple of question. Will the Kim dynasty simply pack up and walk away from their hermit kingdom because South Korea say go?

And the simple answer is....(drumroll Bob).No........

So until someone actually figures out what is actually going to happen the Korean Reunification is just a giant Ponzi Scheme that will suck investors cash faster than you can blink an eye.

The Kim Dynasty isn't going anywhere and that's why this is just a giant carrot trap wrapped up in a really big Ponzi scheme!

Someone needs to figure out if the Kim's are going anywhere before they start shoveling cash into that pit.

The payment for unification tab will come from the South Korean and global investors. There are $10 trillion worth of North Korean natural resources that are buried deep in North Korean mountains, including precious metals, gold, uranium and natural gas deposits - more than enough to pay for the costs dozens of times over. All South Korea has to do is to pave the roads, build the power stations, schools, pump clean water, and redistribute farming lands back to North Korean people to farm. The rest will be done by North Koreans and the private sector investors.

JoeBigs maybe he may "return to the soil" with the help of the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of Korea. It would be in the best interests of both to "retire" him and his minions. Then the Americans will be kicked out of Korea.

Mostly positive. But i don't believe China will appreciate the west at it's front door.

This assumes it is the North changing to meet SK. It would cost considerably less if it goes the other way.

It cost the Germans almost 2 trillion dollars for the first 20 years of re-unification.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/11/07/us-germany-wall-idUSTRE5A613B20091107

IF change were going to occur in the next 20 years, I think a Chinese supported coup d'etat would be the most likely given the historical connections between Chinese military and North Korean military. And it would probably turn out to be a big headache for the Chinese.

Well luckily for them, they won't have to fork out that money because the chances are, I won't see a unified korea in my lifetime.

about 25 million North Koreans so that means they could give each one USD 20,000. although I guess most would be spent on bureaucracy and some infrastructure....

If the unification happened, Korea could still enjoy a strong growth for some years, since it would have a big source of low wage workers from the North. If the unification won't happen, Korea's fate will be similar to the one of "old" countries like Japan and good part of Europe, with a basically permanent stagnation. But everything about this unification is related to China and the US.

@Alex80 Yes Alex, all is the fault of the US. Or maybe it is China that is hated by all free peoples.

Alex80t: "I prefer China over the US. And I like freedom. :)"

Har!

It cost the Germans almost 2 trillion dollars for the first 20 years of re-unification.

The other European countries helped germany a lot, at that time. Now Germany "forgot" that help, though. I guess the best scenario for Korea would be a reunification under Chinese influence. There' s more cultural affinity than with the West, of course, and China will become (or it is already) the first world economic power, so it could help Korea. Also Japan could enjoy a better prosperity if its bonds with China got better, but this peaceful scenario can't happen until the US remain in Asia. :( I'm sure China wouldn't bully its neighbours, if only it didn't feel itself threatened by the US presence.

@scipantheist: I prefer China over the US. And I like freedom. :)

You people are thinking wrong. South Korea must go down the path of private investment like most country's do.

Do you people think China got made from all of the Gov's money? SK is so different from china and NK and people who want to make products will invest in building their biz in the new KOREA.

The first goal is power plants and phone lines in an area they want to start expanding and want company's to build in and so on. Solar panels maybe a good starting point to get power to places faster. It does take 7 years to pay them off, so the gov would have 2 invest in that "but after 7 years" the gov will make good profits 2.

When I hear SK say they need $500 billion, I know they're wrong. It's the investors that want to make money that will help pay for most of that over 8 years. The Gov just sets up power stations.............That can be made ready to be expanded in the future. That means a power station they build, is built with massive room for add-ons / easy to be expanded :).

If NK goes SK will see good investment from the west.

We need another cheap country to make up from a drop off in China. The west could even force china to make their $ what it is. That would see massive investment in NK / new KOREA.