SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- In a move likely to draw a harsh response from North Korea, South Korea will push to come up with a plan by mid-2011 to handle the costs of unifying itself with the impoverished communist neighbor, a senior official said Tuesday.

   In an August address, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak proposed a "unification tax" and suggested that his country begin discussions on dealing with what may be astronomical costs of merging with North Korea, an elusive decades-old national goal.

   Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said Tuesday in a meeting with civilian advisors on relations with North Korea that his government will work with a group of researchers starting next month to create a blueprint for financing the costs of reunification.

   "Based on the research to be completed in February next year, opinions from within the government will be collected by April, and a report will be presented to parliament by June," he said.

   Experts say the costs of merging the divided states will amount to trillions of U.S. dollars in the worst scenario possible.

   The state-run Korea Development Institute said in August that the South will need US$2.14 trillion over three decades in the event of a regime collapse in Pyongyang, which could spark political and social chaos in the communist country.

   The North vehemently denounces any projection that assumes it will implode, while the South says its examination of unification costs does not affect its intention to seek peaceful and gradual integration with the neighbor.

   The two countries remain divided by a heavily armed border after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce. Their relations eroded to the worst level in years after the South denounced the North in May for the deadly sinking of its Cheonan warship.

   Experts say the risk of a regime collapse has heightened since North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, suffered a rumored stroke in 2008. Since then, the 68-year-old has quickened the process of grooming his third son as a successor.

   samkim@yna.co.kr
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