No Rush to Reunify

Given its name, South Korea's Unification Ministry spends a surprising amount of time trying to ensure that unification with North Korea won't happen anytime soon. Instead of preparing for the imminent collapse of the regime of Kim Jong Il, the 470 bureaucrats at the ministry spend their time working through scenarios that involve a long transition for the North. Seoul wants the North to triple its per capita income to $3,000 before uniting the two economies as both the government and people in the South are not prepared to sacrifice the country's standard of living to support the near-bankrupt economy of the North.