It turns out President Lee Myung-bak isn't so tough on those North Koreans after all. Though the tough love approach is essentially what got him elected and what he's stuck to throughout his presidency, he's now changed his mind and offered a re-unification plan.
The plan incudes a unification tax to help shoulder the enormous financial burden that would pop up.
Lee said that one of the main goals of this peaceful community is to de-nuclearize the North. But I have one cynical question: By unifying, isn't the North staying a nuclear country, just under a different name???
Lee must be all about making friends now, because he is even pushing for improved ties with Japan. What's next? Dokdo-shima?
Lee has his work cut out for him if he thinks this is even remotely possible. It's about as likely as merging the United States and Mexico. And at least those two countries have better food to work with.
2 comments:
Lee's government has had a reunification plan since he first took office. Every president has. They're all slightly different, but essentially the same. This reunification tax is a bit of a new thing, but tax money would always have been used in the event of reunification. So as far as I can see, he's not doing that much new. But I completely agree that what he has to say about North Korea and reunification is so all over the place, completely over-optimistic, you have to wonder who he's playing to. I mean, how many Koreans actually believe in the reunification as Lee depicts it will ever actually happen. Especially considering he's not even going to be in office that much longer. Bring on the Lame Duck phase!
His time is running low for sure. Certainly he had a plan in place for reunification, but he hasn't even made a peep about it his entire time here. Is there a successor being groomed? Is it too late because of the party's failures in the most recent elections??? Just curious over here.
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