Construction project management (PM) specialist corporations HanmiGlobal said on the 17th that it published "National land development of unified Germany and a national land strategy for the Korean Peninsula."
HanmiGlobal's Institute for Construction Strategy on a Unified Korean Peninsula, which published the book, marked the 35th anniversary of German unification this year by analyzing the lessons and implications from unified Germany's national land development process and presenting a national land development strategy for the Korean Peninsula after unification.
According to the book, during the first five years after German unification, 130 billion marks (about 65 trillion won) were invested in transportation, communications and other infrastructure in the former East German region, significantly improving housing conditions and infrastructure levels there. Air and water quality also improved noticeably.
However, the population of East Germany fell by about 24% compared with 1989, and politically driven oversupply of dwellings in depopulating areas created as many as 1 million vacant homes in the early 2000s.
There were also considerable side effects, such as the post-unification principle of prioritizing the return of land ownership delaying economic recovery and triggering unchecked development on urban fringes. In particular, the federal government's "unified capital" policy, which split administrative functions between Bonn and Berlin, is still regarded as a representative failure.
Through this book, HanmiGlobal presents the goals and direction of national land development that the Korean Peninsula should pursue, based on unified Germany's experience. Specifically, it sets out three directions — ▲ inclusive, balanced national land development ▲ sustainable and innovative national land development ▲ open national land development aiming for shared prosperity in Northeast Asia — and includes 10 key national land strategies that reflect environmental changes such as demographic shifts, the climate crisis and technological innovation.
Priority tasks include ▲ improving housing conditions in North Korea ▲ privatization of dwellings and ensuring resident stability ▲ reforming land and real estate systems ▲ building advanced infrastructure and efficiently utilizing existing infrastructure ▲ the importance of unifying the capital.
The book reminds readers through Germany's case that "the biggest reason unification was possible was because East German residents wanted to become one country with West Germany." It emphasizes that making North Korean residents perceive "Korea as trustworthy and a place they want to live" is the best preparation for unification.
To that end, it said it is important to pursue policies that make the Korean Peninsula a better place to live and to steadily expand social and cultural exchanges, such as private exchanges between the two Koreas and sister-city ties between cities. In practice, exchanges between East and West German cities played a major role in laying the groundwork for German unification.
Lee Sang-jun, head of the Institute for Construction Strategy on a Unified Korean Peninsula, said, "Germany's unification experience and lessons are the most practical and useful guide for establishing a national land development strategy for a unified Korean Peninsula," adding, "In particular, learning from the trial and error that unified Germany went through will be a great help in preparing a sustainable and innovative national land development strategy."
Meanwhile, HanmiGlobal's Institute for Construction Strategy on a Unified Korean Peninsula was established in 2020. It has steadily collected and analyzed data related to North Korea and unification and has developed strategies for the construction industry's entry into North Korea after unification. It has also continued research activities to set a desirable direction for North Korean development based on sustainable development, and has published related professional books such as "A development initiative for a unified Korean Peninsula and a construction industry strategy" (2022) and "A plan for North Korean urban development in preparation for unification" (2024).