South Korea will need 730,000 more homes after unification

A recent news article has announced that South Korea will need 730,000 more homes after unification. This announcement was based on a discussion which was held at a forum on the future of the country’s housing that was hosted by the Korea Housing Association in May 2007. Most experts in this field has agreed to the fact that a large number of North Koreans are likely to move to the South in search of better economic and social opportunities after unification. This is something that we South Koreans should not neglect to focus on and prepare in advance. Not only about the house problem, but also there are lots of significant economic aspects that should be considered before and after the unification. So it is recommended that we study about the economic influence that unification will bring, and prepare for it.

Millions of people do think that unification in Korean peninsula is something that must be done. However, most of them don’t actually think about what it’s going to be after unification, and what we should do to actually bring the unification. It might be because both Koreans have lived so many years separately, and people actually don’t want any significant changes. However, whether or not we are prepared for it, the unification will come someday, and we’ll have to live after unification also. That is why we should prepare for it in advance.

Unification in Korean peninsula will absolutely bring a huge crisis to Korea’s economy. As we all know, South Korea’s economy scale and quality is definitely better than North Korea’s. The gap is so huge that it is even useless to compare. So whenever the unification takes place, the subject will be South Korea, leading the unification. And the form of unification will be South Korea absorbing and supporting North Korea. This is the problem. The gap between two countries is so huge that it will definitely bring severe crisis to South Korea’s economy. Back in the history, when Germans had unification between West-Germany and East-Germany, West-Germany’s economy scale absorbed East’s and West supported a lot. However, Germans had some hard time after the unification because the economic gap between two countries was so huge. And the thing is, the gap between South Korea and North Korea is huger than the gap between West and East-Germany. Also, South Korea’s economic power isn’t that strong, compared to West-Germany’s at that time. This really is a serious problem. Also, even if the unification had gone well and South Korea has passed the struggling time due to the economic crisis caused by the unification, there is another problem. The people from North Korea who came to South won’t be able to adapt themselves into capitalism and competitive society, and they won’t be competitive enough to survive. Also, their characteristics won’t be progressive enough to motivate themselves to learn new skills and new lifestyle. So concerning all these problems, the unification in Korean peninsula doesn’t seem to be so optimistic.

As we look deeply into the reality of unification in Korean peninsula, we realize that it is not definitely optimistic and hopeful. It will bring many side effects to Korean economy. However, even though, that doesn’t mean that we should avoid the unification. The unification in Korean peninsula is a must. No one can deny this. So what we should do is to prepare for the unification, not to face a chaos after it. The most effective way to do that is to interact with North Korea in economic ways. We should motivate them to change their attitude toward economy, and we should help them to develop their ability to survive. This is the ultimate way to not face the economic crisis after unification.


Reference : http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=108&oid=044&aid=0000067793

20700273 Entry 14