South Koreans have paid close attention to the price tag of German unification. The proportional burden on South Korea, some studies have found, would be two and a half times greater than on West Germany after it absorbed the former East Germany. The studies found that it could cost more than two trillion dollars over thirty years, raise taxes for six decades, and require that ten percent of the South’s gross domestic product be spent in the North for the foreseeable future. South Koreans want reunification with the North, but they do not want it right away. Many do not want it during their
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