A Focus on Costs, Not Benefits, Dampens Koreans' Desire for Reunification
Abstract
While reunification remains South Koreans preferred method of ending the peninsula s long division, Korean youth increasingly are contemplating alternatives such as permanent separation. Many consider North Korea another foreign country, albeit one whose inhabitants share language and ancestry. Numerous factors underpin their changing attitude. Sixty years have passed since the Korean War sealed the frontier, reducing familial ties and other linkages with the North. Rapid increases in wealth, plus advances in communications and transportation, have brought South Korea s mindset closer to the West. The strongest catalyst of anti-unification sentiment among Republic of Korea (ROK) youth, however, is the monetary cost of unification, which could surpass $2 trillion. Overcoming anxieties that equate political union with impoverishment will require ROK decisionmakers to portray costs as investments and to highlight reunification s economic benefits, which will endure long after expenditures subside. Since a reunified Korea furthers long-term U.S. interests in Northeast Asia, the United States should support the ROK effort.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA619886
Entities
People
- Gregory Macus
Organizations
- National Defense University