South Korea to raise $500B for unification

Re:South Korea to raise $500B for unification by throwaway344 on Tuesday November 18, 2014 @07:44PM (#8627478)

Just the US military mission in South Korea costs $1.1 billion a year. Dealing with the North Korean situation would make most of that spending completely unneeded.

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Re:South Korea to raise $500B for unification by kijin on Tuesday November 18, 2014 @07:51PM (#8627506)

Even without North Korea, I can't imagine the US giving up a military base within spitting distance of mainland China anytime soon.

More American troops are stationed in Germany than in Korea, and Germany has been united for over 20 years.

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Re:South Korea to raise $500B for unification by anemitz on Tuesday November 18, 2014 @11:34PM (#8628303)

Ongoing cost of the U.S. bases in Korea isn't likely an issue. You have to house those troops somewhere and bringing them back to the U.S. would require building and/or expanding of existing domestic facilities so the economics would make keeping the existing bases ideal.

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Re:South Korea to raise $500B for unification by riffraff on Wednesday November 19, 2014 @03:08AM (#8628818)

I'm not sure how it works for the US army but don't people get "mission" wages which are many times the base wage they'd get if they were at home?

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Re:South Korea to raise $500B for unification by anemitz on Wednesday November 19, 2014 @10:22AM (#8630474)

Not an expert but based on my research it doesn't seem like this is a meaningful number at an individual level or at the aggregate base level: http://www.militaryrates.com/military-pay-incentives

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Re:South Korea to raise $500B for unification by WatchDog on Wednesday November 19, 2014 @07:26AM (#8629603)

They get hazardous duty pay if they are serving in a hazardous zone, I dont think they get anything extra for serving at a peaceful base, no matter where it is.

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