KOREA IS A HISTORICAL NORTH EAST ASIAN NATION
ITS popularly had a nick name hermit nation due to its isolative approach towards west....
korea was annexed by japan in 1910 until 1945 i.e up to the end of world war 2.
the korean state is located on korean peninsula and is bordered by china to the north west and russia to the north east by the korean staight and east sea i,e the sea of japan.
its only after ww 2 korea partitioned in to 2 distinct soverign states along the 38th parallel
NORTH KOREA
SOUTH KOREA
After getting freedom from 36 years of japans occupational rule, an unfortunate much bigger problem emerged i.e, korean war broken as a result of invasion by north korea backed by soviet union over south korea, even before koreans would have enjoyed the fruits of their new found freedom.
countless north and south korean soldiers lost their lives. both the republics setted up their respective new governments in the state of devastation, A soviet style regime started in north korea
contrast to that western style regime started in south korea.
At the beginning of 1953 korea was a country in absolute poverty, with its land ravaged by wars and did not even had most of the meager resources.
STATEMENTS from all over the world came as follows in this regard :-
THE COUNTRY HAS NO FUTURE. THIS COUNTRY WILL NOT BE RESTORED EVEN AFTER 100 YEARS.
-Douglas marcarthur
HOW CAN A ROSE BLOSSOM OUT FROM A GARBAGE DUMP ?
-Vengali menon
HOWEVER, making all these statements invalid, korea emerged as a 12th largest economy 60 years after.
korea gone through a rapid and successful technological transformation which is really fabulous.
How did korea once a poorest country in the world managed to escape from the clutches of poverty and achieve so much astounding success ????
After korean war sorted, korea was like this in the picture below
it recieved foreign aid for some time to the purpose of restoration, almost
90 % of the country requirements depended on foreign aid.
however during the busy efforts of restorationn it was nothing but Education which becomes the nations priority. although they were struggling from day to day needs korean parents did not neglect the education of their children.
despite war devastations govt continued to invest in eduaction, made education compulsory.
This dedication to invest in education produced the highly trained, skilled work force which later on becomes the IMPETUS for koreas economic growth.
After completion of restoration work, foreign aid slowly started to subside, resluted in the stoppage of koreas economy which almost i.e more then 90% depended on foreign aid.
It was at this time MILITARY regime took over power, to spur economic growth, it founded economic planning board giving it unprecedented power for plannig, budget allocation,for attracting foreign capital. in jan 1962 announced and put in to action its 1st five year plan which laid foundation for koreas astounding economic growth, that the world came to call it as a "miracle on the han river"
but the real problem was in aquisition of funds. unfortunately US reacted indifferently. but korea did not give up. After several negotiations they succeded in dispatching their minors, nurses to west germany in 1966 resulted in capital inflows. i.e by pledging the money sent by korean workers abroad to home korean govt able to secure loans, capital inflows. this was helpful but far from enough.
Fortunately at the same time the light industry sectors like textiles, wigs, needle work developed rapidly and created momentum for korean economic growth.
however its empirical that as light industries are associated with low wages and their competitiveness weakened.
Thanks to govt that had began to adopt policies like rationalization of exchange rates and interest rates. govt started to invest in new avenues, industries such as
STEEL
COAL
CHEMICALS
MACHINERY
SHIP BUILDING
to create a powerful engine for economic growth.
Meanwhile govt launched a massive programme of construction of integrated steel mill POHANG.
As steel industry requires maximum investments and cutting edge technology and more advanced nation than korea at that time attemted and failed. Inspite of such skepticism the POHANG steel mill started to produce steel in 1973. although it entered the steel industry after 60 years than many developed nations, just in few years it became worlds 4th largest steel producer.
The success of this steel industry paved the way for other steel related industries such as such as AUTOMOBILES, FINE MACHINERY, CONSTRUCTION and ELECTRONICS.
THE KOREAN ECONOMY HAS SHOWN THAT WITHOUT ADVENTURE THERE CAN BE NO GROWTH POSSIBLE.
THE NEW COMMUNITY MOVEMENT is another crucial force promoted the growth of korean industryduring 1970s even korean govt virtually bankrupted managed to provide people with enough funds to improve their life standards and koreans used it effectively. once after community movement got success in infrastructure and agriculture it started to spread to all sectors of society.
The grassroot efforts coupled with global economic boom helped to gain amaizing economic growth in korea 9.2 in 1970, 9.5 in 1971, 9.5 in 1972.
But in 1973 yong kipur war broke out which resulted in, increased prices of raw materials, soarin inflation,as a result domestic factories came to halt. This was a critical blow to korea since it was a country without a drop of oil and just began to industrialize. But koreans used the crisis as a growing opportunity, AT this time korean govt concentrated on the construction boom in in middle east and sent workers, engineers, investors resulted in constructing 10 billion dollar worth buildings each year. Thus using this 1st oil crisis to stimulate economic growth.
2nd oil shock came in 1978, but learning valuable lessons from 1st crisis korea overran second shock without much difficulty.
Most of the countries decreased their investments, but korea contrastedly adopted different approach i.e rather decreasing it increased investments, it boldly restructured its economy.
Later in 1980s Devaluation of US $, low oil prices, low interest rates all helped korean economy to flourish.
mean while the korean people of all class voiced aggressively for the democratic govt to replace the military regime which was lagging behind the korean economic development. but again korea proved that its just the same country like in the west even in matters of politics by realizing the dream of democracy. the establishment of democracy gave much more confidence and power to the nation.
koreas export based economy became even more competitive and the nations pec capita GNP rose sharply. From the spot of 12th largest economy it jumped to the worlds 5th largest economy. achievements came only after 33 years of economic development efforts. korea became member of WTO and OECD in 1996. but these achievements had made the country blind to the global economic uncertainties, dangers and quite simply we could tell that korea had popped the cap of champagne bottle too soon.
asian financial crisis started in thailand spread through east asia like a wild fire, the economy of korea looked like on the verge of collapse due to almost nearing to bankruptcy of 6 out of major 10 corporations... thus korea applied for IMF relief loan i.e financial assistance in 1997, corporate down sizing became the rule of the day, people of the nation once dreamt of joining the advanced nation got ready to share the pain, then again the country used this financial crisis as an opportunity for economic reforms corporate busineessess underwent extensive restructuring and financial institutions merged, along with this management systems were also changed to include principle based on competition and performance. korea recognized that it has to aggressively restructure is policies and industries.
As a result foreign exchange reserves dwindled from 3.9 billion $ from the time of financial crisis surged to 99 billion $ in sep 2001, repayment to IMF began in 1998 completed in aug 2001, it was a truly astounding achievement in which korea managed to payoff the in three years ahead of the dead line.
During the time korea had escaped from dire poverty and became world power with global corporations (LG, Samsung etc.) The country had to reinvent itself for a number of times, while people had to make countless sacrifices.
ECONOMIC GROWTH IS DEPENDENT ON THE CHARECTER OF THE NATION - edmund phelps
When the war in the middle east broke out most of the corporations and employees withdrew in panic but korean corporations faced the potential risks and remained in the region maintaining their marketing networks.
during the time of financial crisis 1997, the value of currency pulmetted and gold price skyrocketed but korean people impressed the world by volunteerly contributing their gold for national gold campaign.
when influenza broke out in mexico, while the world shook in fear of the disease but the korean employees in businesses continued to work in the nation wearing face masks which enabled them to boost their regional presence.
The automobile industry is a powerful engine for economic growth in korea, this is due to the sweat of the dedicated work force which recieved favourable reviews from USA in 1980s, lead to the explosive grown in following years.
The semiconductor industry was an other risky venture, it was considered as a pipe dream by many because of koreas late entry in to the industry, but thanks to the aggressive support of korean govt, korea emerged as a world leader of this semiconductor industry in just 10 years by innovations in technology..
korea also attempted a revolution in the information technology industry, the cutting edge enterprises that were founded during IT boom provided a new stimulus to korean economy enabling korea to become an IT POWER in a matter of years.
its one of the early countries to use the internet and it became worlds number 1 in household internet connections, as it had a strong history of innovations in technology. the foresightedness of govt gave its no.1 position in broadband wire.
The new found confidence stemming from its prosperous economy has served a s a stepping stone for the cultural revolution as well, korea began to produce korea style music, tv drams and films infilled with korean sesnsibilities, this started the international trend known as THE KOREAN WAVE.
Until this day
the korean govt had ardently invested in education.
did not gave up on failures and took on any challenges with spirit.
gained confidence in success
continued to adopt innovation
and has enjoyed the successful development, Thanks to the sacrifice of its people
BUT this spectacular success story charecterized by growth oriented polices has also spun problem
areas such as,
growing disparities between the rich and the poor
conflict between the cities and the rural areas
and environmental pollution
therefore koreas challenge to solve these domestic social issues and to adopt to the changing global economy, remain an ongoing effort.
korean govt invested boldly in steel, automobiles, ship building,petrochemicals,semiconductors to achieve extra ordinary economic growth.
Successfully overcoming the financial crisis that swept through asia korea has aquired a world class manufacturing industry.
IN 2009 korea has joined the OECD countries
the only nation that among the various nations that got independence after ww2 to evolve from an AID recipient to an aid donor.
The strategy of koreas development from absolute poverty is noe being seen as a role model from many countries from all over the world.
in 2010 the korea has become the 1st nation in asia to hold G20 summit
Indeed korea is taking on new challenges for the worlds FUTURE , as a responsible member of the international community.
ITS popularly had a nick name hermit nation due to its isolative approach towards west....
korea was annexed by japan in 1910 until 1945 i.e up to the end of world war 2.
the korean state is located on korean peninsula and is bordered by china to the north west and russia to the north east by the korean staight and east sea i,e the sea of japan.
its only after ww 2 korea partitioned in to 2 distinct soverign states along the 38th parallel
NORTH KOREA
SOUTH KOREA
After getting freedom from 36 years of japans occupational rule, an unfortunate much bigger problem emerged i.e, korean war broken as a result of invasion by north korea backed by soviet union over south korea, even before koreans would have enjoyed the fruits of their new found freedom.
countless north and south korean soldiers lost their lives. both the republics setted up their respective new governments in the state of devastation, A soviet style regime started in north korea
contrast to that western style regime started in south korea.
At the beginning of 1953 korea was a country in absolute poverty, with its land ravaged by wars and did not even had most of the meager resources.
STATEMENTS from all over the world came as follows in this regard :-
THE COUNTRY HAS NO FUTURE. THIS COUNTRY WILL NOT BE RESTORED EVEN AFTER 100 YEARS.
-Douglas marcarthur
HOW CAN A ROSE BLOSSOM OUT FROM A GARBAGE DUMP ?
-Vengali menon
HOWEVER, making all these statements invalid, korea emerged as a 12th largest economy 60 years after.
korea gone through a rapid and successful technological transformation which is really fabulous.
How did korea once a poorest country in the world managed to escape from the clutches of poverty and achieve so much astounding success ????
After korean war sorted, korea was like this in the picture below
it recieved foreign aid for some time to the purpose of restoration, almost
90 % of the country requirements depended on foreign aid.
however during the busy efforts of restorationn it was nothing but Education which becomes the nations priority. although they were struggling from day to day needs korean parents did not neglect the education of their children.
despite war devastations govt continued to invest in eduaction, made education compulsory.
This dedication to invest in education produced the highly trained, skilled work force which later on becomes the IMPETUS for koreas economic growth.
After completion of restoration work, foreign aid slowly started to subside, resluted in the stoppage of koreas economy which almost i.e more then 90% depended on foreign aid.
It was at this time MILITARY regime took over power, to spur economic growth, it founded economic planning board giving it unprecedented power for plannig, budget allocation,for attracting foreign capital. in jan 1962 announced and put in to action its 1st five year plan which laid foundation for koreas astounding economic growth, that the world came to call it as a "miracle on the han river"
but the real problem was in aquisition of funds. unfortunately US reacted indifferently. but korea did not give up. After several negotiations they succeded in dispatching their minors, nurses to west germany in 1966 resulted in capital inflows. i.e by pledging the money sent by korean workers abroad to home korean govt able to secure loans, capital inflows. this was helpful but far from enough.
Fortunately at the same time the light industry sectors like textiles, wigs, needle work developed rapidly and created momentum for korean economic growth.
however its empirical that as light industries are associated with low wages and their competitiveness weakened.
Thanks to govt that had began to adopt policies like rationalization of exchange rates and interest rates. govt started to invest in new avenues, industries such as
STEEL
COAL
CHEMICALS
MACHINERY
SHIP BUILDING
to create a powerful engine for economic growth.
Meanwhile govt launched a massive programme of construction of integrated steel mill POHANG.
As steel industry requires maximum investments and cutting edge technology and more advanced nation than korea at that time attemted and failed. Inspite of such skepticism the POHANG steel mill started to produce steel in 1973. although it entered the steel industry after 60 years than many developed nations, just in few years it became worlds 4th largest steel producer.
The success of this steel industry paved the way for other steel related industries such as such as AUTOMOBILES, FINE MACHINERY, CONSTRUCTION and ELECTRONICS.
THE KOREAN ECONOMY HAS SHOWN THAT WITHOUT ADVENTURE THERE CAN BE NO GROWTH POSSIBLE.
THE NEW COMMUNITY MOVEMENT is another crucial force promoted the growth of korean industryduring 1970s even korean govt virtually bankrupted managed to provide people with enough funds to improve their life standards and koreans used it effectively. once after community movement got success in infrastructure and agriculture it started to spread to all sectors of society.
The grassroot efforts coupled with global economic boom helped to gain amaizing economic growth in korea 9.2 in 1970, 9.5 in 1971, 9.5 in 1972.
But in 1973 yong kipur war broke out which resulted in, increased prices of raw materials, soarin inflation,as a result domestic factories came to halt. This was a critical blow to korea since it was a country without a drop of oil and just began to industrialize. But koreans used the crisis as a growing opportunity, AT this time korean govt concentrated on the construction boom in in middle east and sent workers, engineers, investors resulted in constructing 10 billion dollar worth buildings each year. Thus using this 1st oil crisis to stimulate economic growth.
2nd oil shock came in 1978, but learning valuable lessons from 1st crisis korea overran second shock without much difficulty.
Most of the countries decreased their investments, but korea contrastedly adopted different approach i.e rather decreasing it increased investments, it boldly restructured its economy.
Later in 1980s Devaluation of US $, low oil prices, low interest rates all helped korean economy to flourish.
mean while the korean people of all class voiced aggressively for the democratic govt to replace the military regime which was lagging behind the korean economic development. but again korea proved that its just the same country like in the west even in matters of politics by realizing the dream of democracy. the establishment of democracy gave much more confidence and power to the nation.
koreas export based economy became even more competitive and the nations pec capita GNP rose sharply. From the spot of 12th largest economy it jumped to the worlds 5th largest economy. achievements came only after 33 years of economic development efforts. korea became member of WTO and OECD in 1996. but these achievements had made the country blind to the global economic uncertainties, dangers and quite simply we could tell that korea had popped the cap of champagne bottle too soon.
asian financial crisis started in thailand spread through east asia like a wild fire, the economy of korea looked like on the verge of collapse due to almost nearing to bankruptcy of 6 out of major 10 corporations... thus korea applied for IMF relief loan i.e financial assistance in 1997, corporate down sizing became the rule of the day, people of the nation once dreamt of joining the advanced nation got ready to share the pain, then again the country used this financial crisis as an opportunity for economic reforms corporate busineessess underwent extensive restructuring and financial institutions merged, along with this management systems were also changed to include principle based on competition and performance. korea recognized that it has to aggressively restructure is policies and industries.
As a result foreign exchange reserves dwindled from 3.9 billion $ from the time of financial crisis surged to 99 billion $ in sep 2001, repayment to IMF began in 1998 completed in aug 2001, it was a truly astounding achievement in which korea managed to payoff the in three years ahead of the dead line.
During the time korea had escaped from dire poverty and became world power with global corporations (LG, Samsung etc.) The country had to reinvent itself for a number of times, while people had to make countless sacrifices.
ECONOMIC GROWTH IS DEPENDENT ON THE CHARECTER OF THE NATION - edmund phelps
When the war in the middle east broke out most of the corporations and employees withdrew in panic but korean corporations faced the potential risks and remained in the region maintaining their marketing networks.
during the time of financial crisis 1997, the value of currency pulmetted and gold price skyrocketed but korean people impressed the world by volunteerly contributing their gold for national gold campaign.
when influenza broke out in mexico, while the world shook in fear of the disease but the korean employees in businesses continued to work in the nation wearing face masks which enabled them to boost their regional presence.
The automobile industry is a powerful engine for economic growth in korea, this is due to the sweat of the dedicated work force which recieved favourable reviews from USA in 1980s, lead to the explosive grown in following years.
The semiconductor industry was an other risky venture, it was considered as a pipe dream by many because of koreas late entry in to the industry, but thanks to the aggressive support of korean govt, korea emerged as a world leader of this semiconductor industry in just 10 years by innovations in technology..
korea also attempted a revolution in the information technology industry, the cutting edge enterprises that were founded during IT boom provided a new stimulus to korean economy enabling korea to become an IT POWER in a matter of years.
its one of the early countries to use the internet and it became worlds number 1 in household internet connections, as it had a strong history of innovations in technology. the foresightedness of govt gave its no.1 position in broadband wire.
The new found confidence stemming from its prosperous economy has served a s a stepping stone for the cultural revolution as well, korea began to produce korea style music, tv drams and films infilled with korean sesnsibilities, this started the international trend known as THE KOREAN WAVE.
Until this day
the korean govt had ardently invested in education.
did not gave up on failures and took on any challenges with spirit.
gained confidence in success
continued to adopt innovation
and has enjoyed the successful development, Thanks to the sacrifice of its people
BUT this spectacular success story charecterized by growth oriented polices has also spun problem
areas such as,
growing disparities between the rich and the poor
conflict between the cities and the rural areas
and environmental pollution
therefore koreas challenge to solve these domestic social issues and to adopt to the changing global economy, remain an ongoing effort.
korean govt invested boldly in steel, automobiles, ship building,petrochemicals,semiconductors to achieve extra ordinary economic growth.
Successfully overcoming the financial crisis that swept through asia korea has aquired a world class manufacturing industry.
IN 2009 korea has joined the OECD countries
the only nation that among the various nations that got independence after ww2 to evolve from an AID recipient to an aid donor.
The strategy of koreas development from absolute poverty is noe being seen as a role model from many countries from all over the world.
in 2010 the korea has become the 1st nation in asia to hold G20 summit
Indeed korea is taking on new challenges for the worlds FUTURE , as a responsible member of the international community.
Hello. nice article :)
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