Haneul Jang

Adrian James

ENGL 110

October, 11, 2018

ERA OF NO WAR

 

North Korea practically has given up their nuclear weapons. Recently, North and South Korea held a summit in Pyongyang. And the two presidents talked about the end of the war and unclear weapons. Korea is a divided country. Originally, the representative divided country was Germany. However, they reunited almost 30 years ago. Should South Korea and North Korea be reunified? Is Reunification really good for everyone? 

U.S President Donald Trump said, “Kim Jong Un has agreed to allow Nuclear inspections, subject to final negotiations, and to permanently dismantle a test site and launch pad in the presence of international experts. In the meantime there will be no Rocket or Nuclear testing. Hero remains to continue being”. Trump tweeted his thoughts. First of all, he is positive about North Korea’s abandonment of nuclear weapons and also positive about reunification of the two countries.  Not only Trump but everyone doesn’t wants war.  Everyone wants to live in peace.

On June 25, 1950, a war broke out due to North Korea’s preemptive attack. Since then, one country has been divided into South and North Korea. The two divided nations have different policies and ideologies. South Korea is democracy. North Korea is a communism. Germany and Korea have many similarities. Germany was also divided country. And West Germany was a democracy. On the other hand, East Germany was a communism. Germany has been united for quite a long time now, but it is still far from being completely unified. 

According to the Germany Economic Research Institute,2014. Web.10 Oct 2018, the cost of reunification for North Korea’s reconstruction is expected to be 24 percent of the South Korea’s GDP.  In the past, Germany invested 6 percent of West Germany’s GDP in East Germany. The bigger the gap between the two countries’ GDP , the greater the cost of reunification will be. Despite the fact that East and West Germany were really well-off countries, but the economic gap still remains. The Institute for reunification predicated that the cost of unification would be about 3210 dollars per person for 20 years after reunification. This money is too much for Korean at present. The cost of reunification is enough to destroy the nation’s economic system. 

Jae won Lee “ Number 2 in the world of gap, if reunified on the Korea.” MoneyToday May 18 2018. Goldman Sachs, a global investment bank, released a report in 2007 and 2009, saying, “If the two Koreas are reunified, they can become the world’s second largest economy.” The Institute for Unification also analyzed that the GDP in 2050 would be the second largest after the U.S. There will be enormous economic benefits. The reunification of the two countries also benefits neighboring countries. KIEP(2014) say North Korea’s growth rate of GDP is 16 percent per year by 2030 and South Korea’s is 1 percent. They used the WIOP(World Input-Output Table) to analyze the benefits of unification of countries around the Korea, and China is expected to generate $300.9 billion, $37.9 billion in the United States, $24.4 billion in Japan and $13.6 billion in Russia. 

They also said that a lot of jobs will be created in North Korea and South Korea because they will build buildings and roads. Is this economic growth good for the two countries? Will the economic differences between the two countries be reduced? It is difficult to achieve economic equality. So far, Germany has not been easy to achieve economic equality. West Germany is paying huge taxes for East Germany. Money is not a light problem because it is a matter of direct connection with life.

At the time of reunification, there was a lot of economic difference between West and East Germany. Germany’s GDP is 41,936,06 USD. Before reunification, the GDP of the two Germanys was very different.  Let’s compare the power of South Korea and North Korea. According to 2013 figures, the GDP of North Korea is estimated at $33 billion, while that of South Korea is $1.19 trillion. The GDP per capita is $33,200 in South Korea, while it is $1,800 in the North, according to Tae gun Jang “The GDP between the two Koreas” BBC Korea Oct 15,2017. South Korea’s trade volume was a gigantic $1.07 trillion in 2013.

According to the above data, there is much difference in economic power between North and South Korea. Now, North Korea cannot afford the cost if reunification. Then South Korea must bear the economic cost and continue to pay $4,000 in reunification tax per capita. As a result, the economy of South Korea will also be shaken.

Normally, it is necessary to enter a university in South Korea. On the other hand, North Korea is not essential. Then, North Koreans have less choice than South Koreans when they seek jobs. That is not to say that people who are not educated are hard to find work. But educated people are much easier to find jobs. North Korea has no college tuition. However, the average tuition of Korean universities is $6000. This is a huge difference. If North Koreans go South Korean universities, the financial burden will be high. 

The most important thing is that the educational process of the two countries is so different. It seems difficult to integrate into one curriculum. History is the most problematic subject. In 1950, the North Korea attacked the South first, and the North has refused to apologize and avoided to answer. In fact, North Korea learns this history differently. In addition, over the past 70 years, North Korea has fired missiles into the South and killed South Korean soldiers. And there was no apology either. If they try yo integrate education into a single Course, we have to admit each other’s mistakes, apologize and make concessions, which never seem easy. 

South and North Korea are the Korean race, but the cultural and ideological differences caused by 73 years of division have changed a lot, ant these differences will create conflicts after reunification, which cannot be easily resolved. North Koreans will have a lot of difficulty accepting South Korean ideas because they have been educated for a long time. Cultural differences will also be one of the main causes of conflict. North Korea will have a long time and a hard time accepting South Korea’s rituals, religion and academics, and differences in language lead to communication problems. The cultural and ideological differences between South and North Korea can turn into confrontations, leading to a huge problem in society. 

Reunification would require an overall increase in military power to ensure the safety of North Korea. They need an increase in defense spending and manpower to increase military power, but they cannot use much money to increase defense spending because of unification costs.

Everyone wants peace and no longer wants to have a meaningless fight. But reunification really needs to be thought carefully. Not just for the benefit of the state. Also, they can’t just look at money. They should look at every part of it. Unification is not an easy problem at all. Therefore, they need to think deeply about reunification once again.

     

The main reason why I chosen this topic is because it is the most important issue in Korea right now. And I also wanted to say that unification is not always good thing and needs to think more.