Unification tax proposal sparks debate

President Lee Myung-bak’s surprise proposal Sunday for the “unification tax” sparked a heated debate among politicians, highlighting a wide ideological rift between the liberal and conservative forces as to how to deal with the communist North Korea. 

While leaders of the ruling conservative party were generally supportive of the idea, opposition politicians took it as an opportunity to criticize the current administration’s handling of the North Korean issue. 

“It is now time that we start considering the matter as part of preparations for reunification, which will happen eventually,” said Rep. Kim Moo-sung, the floor leader of the governing Grand National Party. 

The party’s chief policymaker, Rep. Ko Heung-kil, said he will follow up on the president’s proposal by forming a task force team or planning public hearings to collect ideas and opinions from experts and the general public. 

Some within the ruling camp called for a more cautious approach, fearing possible voter resistance to an additional tax burden. 

“The unification tax means that our generation will have to shoulder a greater financial burden of future reunification. It may not be easy to build a public consensus on it,” GNP Rep. Seo Byoung-soo said. 

Opposition politicians played down the proposal as lacking sincerity as it contradicts with the past stance of the conservative president who severed all inter-Korean exchange programs and cut off humanitarian aid to the impoverished North. 

“The proposal may provoke North Korea as it can be seen as a show of the South’s intention to integrate the North into our system,” said Rep. Park Jie-won, the floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party. 

“Rather than proposing a new tax plan, the government needs to work to resolve the current impasse in South-North relations, using the existing inter-Korean cooperation fund,” he added.