Lee: Unification Tax is Not Immediate

President Lee Myung-bak says that the so-called unification tax he proposed during his Independence Day speech on Sunday is not a move that will be pursued immediately. 

Lee was quoted as saying Tuesday that the divided state of the Korean Peninsula must not persist and that a policy shift from managing division to managing unification must be sought.

He added that he proposed the tax in order to prepare the nation for the unification era, which he said was integral to Korea becoming a world-class nation.

Lee said that all Koreans should join together to forge policies for unification, adding that he will gather opinions on the issue.