SEOUL, Oct. 20 (Yonhap) — The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of a unified Korea could reach US$70,000 in 2050, marking the second-highest level among the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, a professor said Monday.
The forecast comes as South Korea has been pushing to lay the groundwork for unification under the current administration of President Park Geun-hye. Park has said unification would be a “bonanza” for both Koreas and a blessing for neighboring countries as it would open up new opportunities through the marriage of South Korea’s capital and technology with the North’s rich natural resources.
Pyongyang has long suspected that Seoul could be plotting to absorb the communist nation.
In a report for a seminar hosted by the presidential preparatory committee for unification, Kim Byung-yeon, a committee member and professor of Seoul National University, estimated that a unified Korea would have a GDP per capita of $73,747 and grow at an annual rate of 4.51 percent by 2050.
The GDP figure would be the second-highest among the G20 member nations, after the United States.
Kim stressed that North Korea’s transition to a market economy would be crucial to the economic growth of a unified Korea, saying that the total GDP after 10 years would be 45 percent less after a chaotic unification than after a peaceful unification.
(END)
Source : The Korea Herald
TV TOTAL 