Perspectives on Korean Unification and Economic Integration

Edited by Young Back Choi, Associate Professor of Economics, St John’s University, US, Yesook Merrill, Assistant Director and Senior Economist, US General Accounting Office, US, Yung Y. Yang, Professor of Economics, California State University, Sacramento, US and Semoon Chang, Director, Gulf Coast Center for Impact Studies

During the last decade of the twentieth century, the Korean peninsula was the stage for non-stop, dramatic political and economic events. This volume brings together an unusually broad range of perspectives on US policy towards North Korea, the North Korean economy, and North–South economic co-operation and unification. The year 2000 opened a new chapter on the Korean peninsula; the North–South summit in June was no doubt a historical milestone that could lead to major changes on the peninsula. But the fundamental issues herein addressed are still relevant and important. No overnight solutions or magic bullets exist. Essential ingredients for North–South economic co-operation, ranging from regional security matters to policy nuts and bolts, remain little changed.

‘. . . this book does make a novel contribution to diversifying unification discussion. . . unification discussion has been incarcerated in political and emotional traps in the past, and this book challenges those approaches. This book will appeal to both scholars and policymakers who are interested in the costs and benefits of unification.’
– Changzoo Song, Korean Studies