South Korea sends mixed message with war games, unification tax
South Korea President Lee on Sunday emphasized coexistence and proposed a unification tax to prepare for any future collapse of North Korea. Monday, he expressed strong support for this week's war games with the United States.
The USS Blue Ridge rides at anchor in a naval port in Busan, South Korea, Aug. 16, waiting for Ulchi Freedom Guardian, a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States. Tens of thousands of South Korean and US troops launched a fresh round of military drills Monday despite North Korea's warning that it would retaliate with a "merciless counterblow" for the exercises Pyongyang considers a rehearsal for invasion.
AP Photo/Newsis
Seoul, South Korea
South Korea鈥檚 President Lee Myung-bak faces a storm of criticism if he tries to push through a hefty 鈥渦nification tax鈥� to help cover the immense costs of reunifying North and South Korea聽in the event of the collapse of North Korea.
聽鈥淚t鈥檚 a crazy idea,鈥� says Chang Sung-eun, who works as a personal trainer in central Seoul. 鈥淗e is a very rich man. He doesn鈥檛 care. I don鈥檛 have money.鈥�
Then again, Koreans wonder how serious Mr. Lee is聽about the plan, presented Sunday on the 65th 聽anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule. Standing in front of the massive newly reconstructed gate of a one-time royal palace that was destroyed by the Japanese, Lee said that 鈥渋nter-Korean relations demand a new paradigm,鈥� in which 鈥渢he two sides choose coexistence instead of confrontation;聽progress instead of stagnation.鈥�
But less than 24 hours later, on Monday, he called for 鈥渢raining thoroughly鈥� in joint exercises this week involving 55,000 South Korean and 30,000 American troops.
The remarks reflect the dual outlook of a society that is prospering as never before but anxious about rising tensions in the wake of the sinking of a South Korean warship in March.
鈥淥n the hand, we need to talk about unification,鈥� says Choi Jin-wook, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute of National Unification. 鈥淎nd we need also to talk about deterrence.鈥�
Greater significance of these war games
The war games, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, an annual affair, assume greater significance this year 鈥渨hen inter-Korean tensions have heightened,鈥� said an official on Lee鈥檚 staff. Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of the 28,500 US troops in South Korea, called these games, conducted in large part in computerized displays of combat, 鈥渢he largest joint theater exercises in the world.鈥�
The games are sure to be all the more upsetting to North Korea since they're beginning soon after two sets of air and naval exercises. South Korean ships and planes finished five days of exercises a week ago聽in the Yellow Sea, and late last month, US and South Korean ships and planes conducted still larger exercises on the opposite side of the Korean Peninsula, off Korea's east coast.
North Korea has so far been silent on Lee鈥檚 unification plan but promised to respond with a 鈥渕erciless counterblow鈥� to the exercises.鈥� It was the kind of rhetorical blast that has become routine since a multinational investigation held the North responsible for the sinking of the Cheonan, but nonetheless is definitely raising anxiety levels.
Popular skepticism
Most people here do not think Lee鈥檚 unification plan will really improve matters.
鈥淚n these days, when there is a tension, I think such an offer would only instigate the North Koreans,鈥� says Kim Sang-hyeop a graduate student. And he is skeptical of any proposal for levying special taxes to defray the costs of unification.
鈥淚 oppose an additional tax to help North Korea at this point,鈥� he says, suggesting instead that the government dip into other resources. 鈥淚 heard there is an unused inter-Korean cooperation fund,鈥� he says. It鈥檚 鈥渄esigned to help North Korea鈥檚 economy.鈥�
Lee said he would ask experts to work out how to levy the funds 鈥渢o carry out comprehensive inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation鈥� for 鈥渄eveloping the North鈥檚 economy dramatically鈥� and creating 鈥渁n economic community in which the two will work for economic integration.鈥�
One study figures the cost at more than $1 trillion, which is less than half that of reunifying former East and West Germany. Others have said the cost will be much higher, considering North Korea鈥檚 ongoing hostility and the record of the Korean War. Koreans are observing the 60th 聽anniversary of bloody firefights as US and South Korean forces staved off the North Korean invasion of June 25, 1950.
Reunification not right around the corner
With North Korea denouncing Lee鈥檚 policies at every juncture, though, the prospects for reunification in the near future appear dim. China calls for 鈥渟tability鈥� on the Korean Peninsula while firmly supporting North Korea, its Korean War ally, both economically and militarily.
鈥淣orth Korea will surely not like it,鈥� says Kim Bum-soo, editor of a conservative journal here, suggesting the North will view any notion of the South intruding in its affairs as anathema. 鈥漈hat will be an obstruction.鈥� Moreover, he adds, 鈥渘ot many people here will like that.鈥�
That鈥檚 an understatement as far as office worker Oh Sung-guk is concerned. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just another gimmick. He can say anything. I don鈥檛 know how sincere he is.鈥�
One question, Mr. Oh asks, is what will really happen to the money. 鈥淲ho knows what they鈥檒l do with it,鈥� he says.
Not everyone, though, is totally against the idea. 鈥淚f they impose new taxes, we will have to pay,鈥� says Albert Kim, a retired United Nations bureaucrat. 鈥淏ut they cannot ask anything irrational.鈥�