Question

• What were the reasons why Korea’s economy did not develop in the past?
• What challenges did Korea face?
• How could South Korea overcome these challenges?
• What were some of South Korea’s first exports?

Answer 1

South Korea was one of the poorest country in world for over a decade.In 1989 ,there was sharp decrease in the exports which became the major concern for the industrial sector.High labor costs, increased wages,frequent strikes affected Korea's economy to the core. There are three distinct periods in the past six centuries which actually speaks lot about Korea's economy-
1.When Japan had annexed Korea, the period of Malthusian stagnation .
2.The colonial period from 1910-1945,when country had modern economic growth.
3.After the colonial period ,when the standard of living of South Korea improved while North Korea suffered from global diseases and starvation.

Because of the Choson dynasty, there was little commercialized peasant economy.They used to collect large amount of taxes for the wide variety of products from the sellers . Invading armies of Japan and China forced a transition to market economy in Korea .The damaged bureaucracy started receiving taxes in money commodities.There were also restrictions on trade.Markets were developing slow .The water control problem affected rice farming productivity.Although there was industrialization but Korea did not develop and remain less urbanized. All these factors were the reasons why Korea's economy did not develop in the past.

South Korea could overcome these challenges by diffusing the tensions between Seoul and Tokyo.Tokyo and Seoul must understand theor own capacities and they must resolve to pull themselves out of the unnecessary arguments.They should take the lessons from the periods of bilateral recuperation.

Some of South Korea's exports were - Semiconductors , Automobile parts and Electronics.