The Financial Times catches the president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, proposing a "reunification tax." The South Korean president doubtless has a better sense of the situation that we do from afar, but surely there would be significant savings from uniting North and South Korea as well as expenses. Defense costs would presumably decline. And think of all the savings on Kim Jong-Il's consumption of luxury goods.
It smacks of the tendency of politicians everywhere to dream up new excuses for justifying new taxes.