Unification Tax Being Mapped Out

Unification Tax Being Mapped Out

(무엇을 하기에 충분한 돈을) 대다 It has been the president’s long belief that unification between the two Koreas is not a matter of choice, but a must. For some time the government has been busy working on a blueprint of a special tax called the unification tax. President Lee Myung-bak first came up with the idea of using taxpayers’ money to cushion the cost of unification which analysts say would be an astronomical amount. Although there are no clear signs that the two Koreas, which have been divided for nearly six decades, could be reunited anytime soon, the government is continuing to map out the details of this special tax, which will finance the massive costs. Talk of this unification tax from the government is triggering countless angry opinions from the public, as the potential of unification with North Korea is extremely slim due to continuously lingering tensions over Pyongyang’s two deadly attacks on South Korea. President Lee announced that South Korea has come very close to unification with the North and the event may come unexpectedly. He stressed that the nation must be prepared to welcome its impoverished northern neighbor. A senior officer from the president’s administration said the government is considering using the tax money to fund unification and is working on a plan to make sure the tax is not a big burden on the working class citizens. Economists and political watchers assume the government is planning to set aside approximately 12 trillion won to cover potential unification. It was early this year when a dozen ruling and opposition lawmakers introduced a bill that would make it legal for South Korean taxpayers to shoulder the cost. No progress has been made since. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency criticized Seoul’s unification tax, denouncing it as a war tax and as the South’s plans to invade the North.