South Koreans Weigh Burden of Massive Assistance for North Electricity Project Seen as Payment Toward Unification 남쪽국민들은 북에 전기 보급을 위한 보조가 너무나 힘에 겹지만, 장차 통일을 향한 투자로 생각. By Anthony Faiola Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, July 25, 2005; Page A12 SEOUL -- Clusters of Korean War veterans were gathered at their favorite shady spot in downtown Seoul on a recent afternoon, arguing about a hot topic among South Koreans -- the massive cost of unification with North Korea. 서울- 흩어져 살던 한국전 참전 용사들이 며칠전 오후에,남쪽 사람들 사이에서 가장 주목할만한 주제로 떠올라서 토론중에 있는,북쪽과의 통일은 막대한 경비가 필요라는것을 토론하기위해 그들이 좋아하는 서울시내의 서늘한 곳에 모였었다. The issue has moved to the national forefront after the South Korean government this month outlined a multibillion-dollar electricity assistance proposal to the North in an offer seen as a key reason North Korea agreed to return to international disarmament talks set to reconvene in Beijing on Tuesday. 한국정부가 수억달러를 들여 북쪽에 전력을 공급해 주기로한 뉴스가 현재 남한 전체에서 큰 이슈로 떠오른것은, 북쪽이 전세계를 향해 오는 화요일 북경에서 열리는 핵개발 포기를 위한 회담에 되돌아오겠다는 약속을 한 주요 이유로 보여 지고 있다. A memorial in Seoul features photos from the 1950-53 Korean War. South Korea is offering assistance if the North abandons its nuclear arms program. (By Ahn Young Joon -- Associated Press) Amounting to the most expansive direct aid ever proposed from the capitalist South to the communist North, the electricity package has been described as the first part of a North Korean Marshall Plan, the U.S. program to rebuild Europe after World War II. Aid could eventually bring new or improved South Korean-funded harbors, airports and expressways to North Korea if it abandons its nuclear weapons program. 1950-53년 사이에 터진 한국전에 대한 사진은 많은 생각을 하게한다. 남쪽은 만약에 북쪽이 핵개발 야망을 포기한다는 조건으로 북쪽의 경제적 개발을 돕겠다고 한다. 북쪽의 공산주의 정권에 남쪽의 자유경제체제를 갖춘 정권의, 어마어마한 규모의 직접원조가 엄청난 출혈로 쌓이고 있는 전력 공급계획은, 미국이 2차 대전후 유럽의 재건을 위해 막대한 원조를 위해 마샬 플랜을 세웠던것과 비교되는, 북쪽의 재건을 위한 마샬 플랜의 첫번째과 사업으로 비유된다. 북쪽이 핵개발 야망을 포기한다면, 남쪽의 재원으로, 북쪽의 항구, 고속도로,공항등을 재개발 또는 건설하게되는데 쓰이게 된다. While analysts and diplomats say the plan could help persuade North Korea to disarm, it is also an example of how expensive the bill will be if the South and the North are to achieve national reunification. The electricity package alone would cost at least $1.4 billion in new infrastructure and an additional $1 billion each year starting in 2008 as 2,000 megawatts of power are sent across the heavily fortified border. 전문가들은 말하기를 이러한 계획이 북쪽의 핵개발 야망을 버리게 하는데 일조를하는면도 있겠지만, 또한 남북통일이 얼마나 엄청난 비용이 들어가는것인가를 알려주는 실례를 보여주는것이기도 한다라고 설명한다. 남북 양쪽에서 가장 두껍게 무장을 하고 있는 최전방을 지나 2000 메가왓트의 전력을 공급하기위해 적어도 건설 비용으로 약 14억 달러가 소요되고, 그후 2008년부터 매년 약 10억 달러의 비용이 소요된다. Some of the veterans in the downtown park shouted that the aid package was "too expensive!" and "never for them!" But most agreed with Lee Jong In, 71, who once went toe to toe with his northern brothers on the battlefield. Rather than an expensive inducement, he said, the offer amounts to an essential investment in the future of Korean unification. "Like them or not, North Koreans are our brothers, and one day we will unify the way East and West Germany did," said Lee, a robust retired high school teacher. "Just like the West Germans, we will bear a financial burden, but the economic differences between North and South are now too great. They are very poor, but if we help them to modernize, we can reduce our unification burden down the line. We need to try to balance out the differences between us before we become one." Here on the Cold War's last frontier, many South Koreans see the decision as between paying now or paying more later. One poll by the firm TNS Korea, sponsored by the governing Uri Party, showed that 59 percent of respondents supported the electricity plan and about 37 percent opposed it. Of those who opposed the aid offer, about one-quarter said it was because of the high cost. South Koreans have been highly focused recently on closer ties with the North. A number of new factories and hotels have been built there. Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, met this month with Hyun Jeong Eun, the head of South Korea's Hyundai Group, and agreed to grant the company rights to bring South Korean tourists to the historic city of Kaesong and the North's sacred Mount Paektu as soon as late August. Talks are also underway to allow stopovers in the usually isolated North Korean capital, Pyongyang. South and North Korean actors and singers are performing together in commercials and concerts; artists and scientists are holding joint summits. Service on an almost completed 15-mile rail link across the North-South border is expected to begin in September. And this month, the two Koreas established a fiber-optic cable link to allow videoconferencing for family members separated after the war. Despite the blossoming of brotherly love, however, even those South Koreans who support unification say that if it happened now, the cost would cripple them. South Korea is the world's 11th-largest economy and home to major automakers and international electronics firms. When East and West Germany reunited, South Korean scholars note, the East had one-fourth the population of the West and its economy was one-third the size. By comparison, North Korea has nearly half as many people as South Korea, but its failed socialist economy amounts to only 7 percent of that of the high-tech South. 내일 즉 화요일 6자회담 복귀를 앞두고, 와싱턴 포스트의 기사를 옮긴 내용중 일부이다. 이예측데로만 진행 된다면, 조국의 장래를 위한 얼마나 다행한 일이겠는가? 지금까지의 북쪽의 행적으로 보아, 이번에도 기대는 별로 크지가 않아 보인다. 안타깝게도.....