By Lee Chang-sup
Last year, Korea became the seventh member of the 20-50 club, an unofficial group of countries with more than $20,000 per capita income and a population of more than 50 million. The group comprises Korea and the G-7 countries, excluding Canada.
After this achievement, the next question is whether Korea can join the so-called 40-80 club, which groups countries with more than $40,000 per capita income and a population of 80 million. So far, this group includes only the United States, Japan and Germany.
Korea cannot automatically realize this goal, but it can eventually do so by meeting certain preconditions. First, the economy must grow by more than 5 percent each year. Second, the country must adopt a proactive immigration policy, reform the education policy,
the service sector and upgrade the manufacturing sector. Lastly, the country must pursue re
with North Korea.
Of these preconditions, reunification is the most difficult. Today, inter-Korean economic cooperation sounds like a dream. The ongoing military drill between South Korea and the United States has prompted North Korea to be in an offensive mode. The Kim Jong-un regime is reportedly planning a fourth nuclear test and announced it scrapped the non-aggression pact the two Koreas signed in 1991.
Inter-Korean tension hasn’t been this bad since the Korean War ended in 1953. However, the two Koreas need to overcome ideological and military tension, and look for ways to prosper together. Under two countries and two governments, the Koreas can expand economic exchanges. The South can transfer its labor-intensive industries to the North, which in turn can sell natural resources to the South.
A prolonged
ation would damage both South and North Korea. First, North Koreans would become even more
as its government diverts the bulk of national resources to building nuclear weapons, missiles and conventional weapons, and consequently as it faces unprecedented external
s. Second, North Korea’s sudden
would be costly to the unprepared South. A 2010 report by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) put the unification cost at $3 trillion, equal to South Korea’s three-year GDP.
Instead of
ing an
amount of money to the military, the two Koreas can move toward co-prosperity. Koreans in each nation can stop smearing each other and resume a confidence-building process.
The Koreas can benefit from economic cooperation. According to a 2009 Goldman Sachs report, North Korea’s per capita income could rise by nearly six times to $4,000 in 2020 if the two Koreas reunified. The North will enjoy a 7-8 percent annual growth over the next decade, and the South a 0.3-point increase in annual growth, the report stated. It forecast a unified Korea could overtake Japan and Germany economically in three or four decades.
In South Korea, President Park Geun-hye faces several challenges in jump-starting the economy. For the first time in 15 years, less than 60 percent of the population is economically active because of the aging society and the low birth rate. Credit card usage in January shows the lowest growth rate in 45 months. GDP growth has fallen below 3 percent. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index and the real estate market remain frozen. In short, the South has little room to maneuver its economy to a better path.
In her inauguration speech, President Park stressed her goal of achieving a second “Miracle on the Han River,” the miracle which had propelled South Korea into the world’s 15th largest economy and a role model for many developing countries.
However, she did not specify how she would achieve this goal. She might not achieve an economic miracle during her five-year term, but she could set the stage for one. She could boldly
a South-North economic community, which would ease tension on the Korean Peninsula.
Previous attempts for inter-Korean detente by the South have failed. For instance, former President Kim Dae-jung’s Sunshine Policy of engaging with the North backfired because aid to the North was unconditional. The South Korean government should instead tie aid, including non-cash aid, to economic cooperation.
Likewise, former conservative President Lee Myung-bak’s hardline policy has also escalated tension on the Korean Peninsula. Liberals and conservatives in South Korea should chart a practical and non-ideological North Korea policy, which would ease tension and benefit Koreas economically.
The Koreas can learn from Germany. Following Germany’s reunification in 1989, its population surpassed 80 million, and its domestic demand doubled to $1.9 trillion. Decades before the reunification, East and West Germany had expanded economic exchanges, which later catalyzed reunification.
The United States, China and other countries could encourage the two Koreas to reconcile and work toward economic cooperation.
An amicable relationship with Washington and Beijing is crucial to building inter-Korean relations. For example, the United States could sign a peace treaty with North Korea. Few believe the North would scrap its nuclear weapons program. However, a peace treaty with Washington might be the only remaining option to encourage the Kim Jong-un regime to work with South Korea. Pyongyang has repeatedly said it developed nuclear weapons as a deterrence to counter “the American imperialists’ nuclear attack.” Meanwhile, China could encourage North Korea to repeat China’s economic success in North Korea.
Whatever detours the Koreas may take, economic cooperation, not ideological confrontation, is the key to mutual prosperity. President Park Geun-hye can take the initiative. She said that once North Korea scraps its nuclear weapons program, the South will initiate economic cooperation and aid.
South Korea should attempt to achieve its 40-80 goal not on its own but through the cooperation of 50 million South Koreans, 25 million North Koreans and more than six million Koreans overseas.
1. Granting scholarships to foreign students from developing countries can be a way of
good will between countries.
① devoting
② encouraging
③ grappling
④ prescribing
2. Elementary education was
in early New England for religious purposes.
① promoted
② justified
③ exploited
④ defended
3.South and North Korea should get together
the peaceful unification.
① in terms of
② in the event of
③ in consideration of
④ in token of
4.Some current research is trying to
the increasing problem of mental illness in American life.
① publicize
② ignore
③ deal with
④ dispense with
5. The
family will be given an allowance.
① destitute
② luxurious
③ benevolent
④ affluent
⑤ frugal
6. To
the girl's attention, her mother shielded her from the awful scene.
(중앙대 편입 유형, 2001 손해사정인, 보험계리인 유형, 경기대 편입 유형)
① contrive
② dismiss
③ distract
④ prevail
7. The middle class has taken the brunt of the currency and stock market
.
① construction
② breakdown
③ intrusion
④ change
8. The President felt that if he prohibited importation of that country's goods, the
would get the country to stop hurting its citizens.
① measure
② development
③ transformation
④ position
9. Houses in the village are selling for
prices.
① inconceivably high
② very low
③ of astronomy
④ very reasonable
10. She follows orders well, but she seldom
action. (POSCO, 한진 유형)
① relates
② introduces
③ starts
④ infuriates
[해설 및 정답]
1. [번역] 개발도상국출신의 외국학생들에게 장학금을 수여하는 것은 국가간의 호의를 조성하는 방안이 될 수 있다.
[정답] ②
2. [번역] 초등교육은 종교적 목적으로 초기의 뉴잉글랜드에서 장려되었다.
[정답] ①
3.【번역】남북한은 평화통일의 견지에서 의견일치를 보아야 한다.
[어휘] in terms of : …의 견지, 관점에서(from the standpoint of, in the light of, in view of)
【정답】①
4.【번역】현재의 일부 연구는 미국인의 삶에 있어 점차 증가일로의 정신질환의 문제에 맞서고자 노력하고 있다.
【어휘】confront : 직면, 당면하다(face), 맞서다; 대(처)하다(cope with, deal with) * front=forehead, face
① 공표(광고)하다 ② 무시하다 ③ 처리하다, 다루다, 취급하다 ④ ~없이 지내다(살다)
【語源】해결할 문제를 대상으로 모든 역량을 다 함께(together) 정면(face)으로 향하다
【정답】③
5. 【번역】그 가난해진 가정은 수당을 받게 될 것이다.
【어휘】impoverish : v. 가난하게 하다(make poor); (자원, 질 등을) 빈약하게 하다, 쇠하게 하다(deprive of strength, resources) a. impoverished(가난해진; 허약해진) * pover=poor
② 호화로운, 사치스런 ③ 선의의, 자비로운, 친절한 ④ 풍요로운 ⑤ 검약한
【語源】안으로(in)부터 가난하게(poor) 된
6. [번역] 그 소녀의 관심을 돌리게 하려고, 그녀의 어머니는 그녀를 막아 그 끔찍한 장면을 보지못하게 했다.
[정답] ③
7. [번역] 중산층은 통화(외환) 및 주식시장 붕괴의 가장 큰 타격을 입었다.
8. [번역] 그 대통령은 만일 그가 그 나라 제품의 수입을 금지시킨다면, 그러한 제재조치로 해서 그 나라가 자국민들을 해치는 일을 중단하게 할 것이라 생각했다.
9. [번역] 그 마을의 집들은 엄청난(엄청나게 높은) 가격으로 팔리고 있다.
10. [번역] 그녀는 지시를 잘 따른다. 그러나 좀처럼 행동은 개시하지 않는다.