On a civilised population exchange

The main idea: updating the otherwise fine practice of population exchanges beyond the need for pointy sticks to drive people out of houses in the middle of winter.

0. Posts on this blog are ranked in decreasing order of likeability to myself. This entry was originally posted on 16.01.2023, and the current version may have been updated several times from its original form. 

1 The setup

1.1 Back before some dudes gathered on a battleship to sign some T&Cs and history ended, population exchanges were what you did if you wanted to win the peace.

1.2 I have it on good authority that history will resume its business-as-usual march soon enough, so we’d better be prepared to keep them down once we’ve kicked them down. And in case we’re the ones to be kicked, its nice not to see your womenfolk driven out in the snow. 

1.3 It took Europe a couple centuries to figure out that national passions carry over generations, and we’re now in the process of understanding that the same is largely true of political passions. So, don’t let past experience limit you in terms of area of application.

1.4 Since I’d like to think that we’ve become a bit more civilised than we were in ’45, I propose the following as the key steps of a revamped population exchange process. Assume that North Korea has just won a war with South Korea, and has identified a pocket of Southerners who are to be resettled as per the peace treaty. South Korea has done the same and, hoping for a lasting peace, will proceed on the same basis, mutatis mutandis.

2 The plan

2.1 The southerners’ North Korean Citizenship is revoked immediately, to be replaced by an ad hoc Residency visa.

2.2 The newly-minted Residents can live in North Korea (but obviously cannot vote) as long as they like but cannot leave the country, else their residency is terminated at the border. 

2.3 Residency cannot be inherited, except by minors under 18 who loose it once they reach adulthood. A Resident marrying a Citizen bestows Residency to their children, not Citizenship. Regardless of the sexual prowess of the Residents, Residency cannot be inherited beyond one generation from its point of first grant.

2.4 Residents cannot purchase real estate in North Korea and cannot sell any real estate they already own to any but North Korean citizens. No taxes apply to such sales, if any apply otherwise. No taxes apply to wire transfers abroad from Residents either.

2.5 Any government payments that Residents had been receiving will either terminate or be phased out (the latter in the case of pensions or other core payouts). Any special education the Residents had been entitled to on account of their religion or ethnicity closes at the end of the school year. Any residents employed in public service are let go as per their contracts.

2.6 20 years from the creation of the Residents, they will begin to pay a special income tax as discussed here before. 

2.7 Any real estate loans issued to Citizens for the express and sole purpose of purchasing Resident real estate is guaranteed by the government, such that the bank cannot lose the principal committed. No deposits are to apply to any such loans (any need for deposit invalidates the sovereign guarantee). None of these benefits will transfer, only applying to the original Citizen who buys the property.

2.8 Airfares (or other transportation to abroad destinations) to Residents are fully paid by the government (see 2.2).