What if Korean unification were viewed not only as a cost, but as an opportunity to prepare for?

In an interview with UPI, former U.S. Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph argues that rebuilding and integrating North Korea could create major opportunities in infrastructure, investment, and economic development if planning begins before political change forces the issue.

The following is an excerpt from the article:

South Korea should stop viewing unification primarily as an enormous financial burden and begin preparing to turn the reconstruction of North Korea into an investment opportunity, former U.S. Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph told UPI in an interview Friday.

 

Joseph, who chaired a working group that published a strategy for a free and unified Korea through the National Institute for Public Policy in April 2026, said one of the biggest obstacles to preparing for unification is the widespread assumption that South Koreans would be forced to bear its enormous costs.

 

He pointed to an economic analysis by Nicholas Eberstadt, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute who has long studied the North Korean economy and is a member of the working group.

 

The analysis estimates South Korea’s private wealth at roughly $10 trillion and argues that reconstruction should not depend solely on government spending or South Korean taxpayers. It also points to global markets containing more than $35 trillion in foreign direct investment and about $70 trillion in private portfolio investment.

 

– Hyojoon Jeon, UPI

Read the full article on UPI.com