Essay --

In a study conducted by Seoul National University in 1994, 92 percent of South Koreans considered unification absolutely â€Å"essential.† By 2007, that opinion fell to 64 percent. Today, support for unification is barely above 50 percent, with support lowest among the young: a 2010 survey revealed that only 49 percent of young adults judged unification as necessary. Among teens, the figure dropped even lower to 20 percent. This declared openly but it is felt by all long-time dwellers of Seoul and with good reason too: the financial cost of reunification would be astronomical. It would cost South Korean taxpayers seven percent of the country’s GDP for every year for the 10 years after reunifying. A joint estimate by the country’s Finance Ministry and universities put the cost of unification — if it were to occur by 2020 — around $2.8 trillion. The cost is expected to only increase with time as consumer prices climb and socioeconomic disparities widen. For the first few years, a majority of the costs will go into consolidating the North’s basic administrative, judicial and social services ... Essay -- In a study conducted by Seoul National University in 1994, 92 percent of South Koreans considered unification absolutely â€Å"essential.† By 2007, that opinion fell to 64 percent. Today, support for unification is barely above 50 percent, with support lowest among the young: a 2010 survey revealed that only 49 percent of young adults judged unification as necessary. Among teens, the figure dropped even lower to 20 percent. This declared openly but it is felt by all long-time dwellers of Seoul and with good reason too: the financial cost of reunification would be astronomical. It would cost South Korean taxpayers seven percent of the country’s GDP for every year for the 10 years after reunifying. A joint estimate by the country’s Finance Ministry and universities put the cost of unification — if it were to occur by 2020 — around $2.8 trillion. The cost is expected to only increase with time as consumer prices climb and socioeconomic disparities widen. For the first few years, a majority of the costs will go into consolidating the North’s basic administrative, judicial and social services ...