South Korea: Devastation and Development

Abstract

South Korea, along with other rapidly growing economies in East Asia, was dubbed a ‘miracle’ by many with an ideological axe to grind – especially by those who advocated export-oriented policies and the ‘discipline’ of the world market. The ‘miracle’ was given official approval with the publication of The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy, by the World Bank in 1993.¹ Even compared with other NICs, the transition of South Korea was spectacular. Its GDP per capita in 1960 was about the same as the Congo. Until the early 1960s, per capita income lagged behind many African countries – including Ghana and Kenya – and behind most in Latin America.² The Philippines at this time was considered by many as a nearly unreachable role model for Korea.³ Over the following 30 years, South Korean growth easily outstripped all of Latin America and Africa. By 1992 it was the third biggest producer of colour TV sets and the second biggest of videocassette recorders and microwave ovens.⁴ In 1996 it joined the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – the first of the Asian ‘tigers’ to be admitted – and became the twelfth largest economy in the world.