Teaching East Asia: Korea Teaching East Asia: Korea | Page 97

Doc. B Korea in World History, Donald Clark, 2012. 48-50.
“The leader of the May 16, 1961, military coup in South Korea, General Park Chung-hee, vowed
to lead his country out of poverty and suffering that had plagued its people since the Korean
War. He cracked down on corruption and exhorted his people to work hard and save for the
future. He created a central Economic Planning Board (EPB) and used his power to open doors
to foreign money, borrowing capital and negotiating for aid from the United States and Japan.
Beginning with this, the EPB mapped out a series of five-year plans that set ambitious targets for
production. Using the slogan “Production, Exports, Construction!” the government made the
Korean economy produce goods that could be sold abroad, earning foreign exchange that could
be used to buy imported raw materials, machines, and advanced equipment for further
production. The park government also sent Korean workers to Europe and the Middle East to
earn money in places where labor was scarce. In the 1960s Korean troops fought in Vietnam,
their expenses paid by the United States. These multiple sources of revenue from outside Korea
“primed the pump” of the Korean economy and made it possible to exceed the five-year plan
targets time after time.
The government also stressed rural development through a program called the New Community
Movement. Aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and raising the standard of living in the
countryside, the New Community Movement made credit available to farmers; supplied them
with seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides; installed electricity and safe water; promoted public health;
paved roads; built schools; and improved transportation and communications. These
improvements together with the trend toward urbanization dramatically increased per capita
production in the provinces and narrowed the gap in living standards between Koreans who lived
in the cities and rural villages.
The enormous sacrifices required to accomplish these things were not evenly distributed despite
the government’s best efforts. Many Koreans suffered under brutal working conditions. The rate
of injuries and accidents among those who did “3-D” kinds of work (difficult, dirty, and
dangerous), workers such as miners and those who worked in urban sweatshops, was very
high…
On the other hand, the Park government tried to engineer the success of Korea’s biggest
companies by having government-controlled banks make them government-guaranteed loans.
These companies quickly became conglomerates, called chaebŏl, which were comprised of
families of companies. The Hyundai chaebŏl, for example, includes automobiles, construction,
shipping, and retailing components. Samsung, which started out with textiles, developed an
electronics manufacturing specialty that became known around the world, first for televisions
and microwave ovens and then for semiconductors and other high-tech computer components.
Demand for Korean products overseas helped free Korea from foreign aid and then enriched the
chaebŏl, enabling them to buy up smaller companies and grow big enough to control a
significant part of the national economy.
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