1 - South Korean Economic Development in Perspective

Summary

South Korea has become the only country to make the transition from a developing to a developed country after the Second World War; however, its development process has been a tortuous one. This book first explains how Korea failed earlier in history to become a colony and how its economy changed during the colonial period. The book then describes the provision of the conditions for future growth in 1945–1960 and explains the launching of the high economic growth in the 1960s. The book next discusses the development process after the high economic growth began until the 1997 crisis, examining the three conditions for sustaining growth: macroeconomic management, structural transformation, and social conflict management. After discussing the 1997 crisis and the ensuing reform, the book explains how economic development proceeded subsequently until today, again by examining those three conditions for sustaining growth. Finally, it briefly discusses questions for the future.