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Fortune says it costs 2 trillion dollars to keep peace on Korean Peninsula.

Fortune says it costs 2 trillion dollars to keep peace on Korean Peninsula.

Posted May. 15, 2018 07:43,   

Updated May. 15, 2018 07:43

한국어

More than 2 trillion dollars is forecast to be needed to ensure a denuclearized North Korea for the coming decade. Fortune magazine reported that researchers at American economic magazine Fortune and Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd. in London estimated what resources would be needed to ensure a denuclearized North Korea is economically viable.

The figure is calculated based upon the estimated investment that North Korea made in its nuclear and missile development program and the rate of economic devastation. They drew on the example of Germany’s unification, noting that transfers from the West to East totaled more than 1.2 trillion dollars, or around 1.7 trillion dollars using today’s value. Given the fact that North Korea has nuclear arsenals East Germany didn’t have, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in a position to demand a very large financial commitment from the rest of the world, researchers wrote in a note.

The bill could be split four ways among the closely related parties with a denuclearized North Korea – the United States, China, Japan and South Korea – which would equate to 1.7 percent, 1.6 percent, 7.3 percent and 18.3 percent of each nation’s gross domestic product over the coming decade.

“The South Korean economy is highly likely to be hit hard after paying the price for a peaceful peninsula, according to the analysis,” Fortune says. The four countries will bear the cost through various ways, including economic and financial support, private investment and social infrastructure projects.


Mi-Kyung Jung mickey@donga.com