South Korea will launch a special fund to bankroll its potential unification with North Korea, the Unification Ministry said Tuesday, following the Cabinet‘s approval of a relevant revision bill.

The revision bill calls for dividing the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund into two accounts -- one for promoting cross-border cooperation and the other for covering unification costs, said the ministry.

The unification account, which will also draw funds from the government and private donations, will be utilized to cover the costs of unification for one year in case the two countries reunify, the ministry said.

The state-run Korea Institute for National Unification has estimated the initial costs for the integration of the two Koreas could range from 55 trillion won (US$47 billion) to 249 trillion won ($216 billion).

The revision bill requires the approval of parliament before going into effect. It will be submitted to the National Assembly sometime in August, the ministry said.

In recent months, President Lee Myung-bak has repeatedly said, “Given current circumstances, I can see that unification is not far off.” (Yonhap News)