Kim Jong-hoon, Chairman of HanmiGlobal, "The Master Plan for Unified National Land Development Must Start Now"

Seminar Hosted by the Construction Industry Vision Forum
"Unification Can Come Quietly Like a Thief...
Unprepared Unification Could Be a Disaster"

"Unification can come quietly, like a thief. Unprepared unification can become a disaster."

Kim Jong-hoon, Chairman of HanmiGlobal, emphasized this on the 17th at the 'Unification Germany Land Development and the Korean Peninsula Land Strategy' seminar held at the Construction Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The event was hosted by the Korea Peninsula Future Forum and organized by the Construction Industry Vision Forum.

Chairman Kim stated, "Although hostility between the South and North has intensified and discussions on unification have disappeared, efforts toward unification must not stop at the national level or within the private sector," emphasizing, "The construction industry must prepare even more." He continued, "From now on, we must steadily prepare the blueprint and master plan for land development of a unified Korean Peninsula," adding, "Since North Korea is very different from us, a thorough strategy must be established when the construction industry enters North Korea."

Kim Jong-hoon, Chairman of HanmiGlobal, is delivering a congratulatory speech at the seminar "Unified Germany's National Land Development and the Korean Peninsula's National Land Strategy" held on the 17th at the Construction Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Provided by HanmiGlobal

Chairman Kim also argued, "The only fundamental solution to South Korea's current low growth and low birthrate problems is unification," stating, "Through South-North synergy, we can secure new driving forces for national competitiveness." Referring to the German unification process, he said, "We must thoroughly analyze the processes Germany went through, such as currency integration, land ownership, and the relocation of the unified capital," and added, "Successful cases from the German unification process should be taken as examples, and failures should serve as lessons."

Chairman Kim founded the 'Korean Peninsula Land Forum' within the National Academy of Engineering of Korea in 2014 to continue discussions on land development for a unified Korean Peninsula. He also established and currently operates the 'Unification Korean Peninsula Construction Industry Strategy Research Institute' within HanmiGlobal in 2020. The seminar also revealed research results initiated last year.

Senior Research Fellow Lee Sang-jun of the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements analyzed the German unification case, explaining, "Germany invested at least 1 trillion euros to a maximum of 2 trillion euros (approximately 3,200 trillion KRW) over 20 years after unification," and added, "The federal government officially estimated the cost over 15 years at 1.4 trillion euros (approximately 2,240 trillion KRW), which is 2.8 times the initial budget." He noted, "While infrastructure improvements yielded results, there were significant side effects such as real estate ownership disputes, regional imbalances, and vacant housing," and pointed out, "Especially, the economic gap between East and West Germany was 3 to 1, whereas the South-North gap is 30 to 1, which is on a different level."

At the seminar titled "Unified Germany's National Land Development and the Korean Peninsula's National Land Strategy" held on the 17th at the Construction Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, attendees are taking a commemorative photo. From the fourth person on the left: Kwon Do-yeop, former Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs; Kang Ho-in, co-representative of the Construction Industry Vision Forum; Son Seong-hong, director of the German Political and Cultural Research Institute; Cheon Young-woo, chairman of the Korean Peninsula Future Forum. Second from the right: Park Seon-gyu, president of the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology; fifth from the right: Kim Jong-hoon, chairman of HanmiGlobal.

Associate Research Fellow Kim Min-ah of the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements emphasized, "Development of North Korean areas should incorporate advanced technologies such as smart cities to build the most innovative land model in Northeast Asia," and stressed, "A land development strategy reflecting carbon neutrality and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is necessary." She also said, "An open land development strategy connecting the continent and the ocean is needed, including the Asian Highway, Transcontinental Railways (TCR·TSR), Northeast Asian port city networks, and energy linkage networks."

As a method for securing unification funds, a 'mixed finance' model combining public and private sectors, similar to the German case, was proposed. Germany supported East Germany with a total of 340 billion euros in three phases from 1990 to 2019. Associate Research Fellow Kim stated, "South Korea should actively attract sustainable development funds such as water resource infrastructure, along with financing methods utilizing international private capital."

In the subsequent panel discussion chaired by former Blue House Senior Secretary for Foreign Affairs and National Security Cheon Young-woo, participants included Kim Sung-ryeol, the first North Korean defector to become a full professor at a domestic university (Busan University of Foreign Studies), Son Hong-il, Director of the German Political Culture Research Institute, Kim Young-chan, former head of the Bank of Korea Frankfurt office, and Park Jin-chul, President of the Architectural Institute of Korea. The attendees unanimously agreed, "Unification is unpredictable, but preparation is essential," emphasizing the urgent need to establish practical strategies to address complex crises such as economic disparity, demographic changes, climate crisis, and international affairs.