The ROK after the
war:
Syngman Rhee
And Park Chung Hee
Nov. 8, 2012
Review
• Why did North Korea take the Communist
route to modernization?
• How did Kim Il Sung manage to hold onto
power in the north after he lost the Korean
War?
• How did North Korea manage to grow its
economy faster than the South Korean
economy for the first two decades after the
Korean War?
• What is the guiding ideology of North Korea?
Corporatism in the DPRK
What is corporatism:
A political philosophy emphasizing hierarchy,
family, and organic connections (Just as a family
is not a democratic institution, a corporate polity
is not democratic, either.)
Fascism is one form of corporatism.
In North Korea, the nation is one big family, led
by the dead grandfather his fatherly son, and his
loyal grandson.
In a corporate polity, everyone has to accept
their assigned role (assigned by the“head of the
family.”)
Rhee’s Post-War Policies
Economy grew only a little faster than population growth.
Inflation was a serious problem, though.
There was little internal surplus for investment
Rhee’s policies: import substitution, keep Korean
currency artificially high, keep agricultural prices low.
Political connections determined access to economic
resources.
One sign of hope: Education become more available.
Rhee’s authoritarianism
Treated the constitution with disdain (Sources, pp. 383-4)
Also election results could not be trusted.
Used National Security Law against all sorts of
opponents. (Cho Pongam, a former cabinet minister,
was executed in 1959)
Didn’t trust political parties, even his own Liberal
Party. Promoted ilmin chu-ŭi --“Koreans are one”
Used the military and the police for political ends.
The April 19, 1960, revolution
Why was Rhee overthrown?
What happened to his Liberal Party?
How did Korea handle the sudden appearance of democracy on
the peninsula (1960-61)?
How did North Korea react to developments south of the DMZ?
Evaluating Syngman Rhee
•Was
Rhee a good founding father for the Republic of Korea?
•What
was more important to Rhee, anti-Communism or
democracy?
•Was
there any positive legacy of his 12 years as leader of the
Republic of Korea?
•What
happened to the South Korean economy when Rhee
was in charge?
•What
is the difference between authoritarianism and
totalitarianism?
The Democratic Experiment
• Korea had a chaotic try at parliamentary
democracy from 1960 through 1961.
• The leaders of the government were
members of the old elite, Yun Posun and
Chang Myun
• Students and workers took advantage of
political freedom to press for both better
wages and better relations with the north.
• Was the government really democratic at
this time?
Park Chung Hee
Who was he and why did he launch a military coup in May 16,1961? Read
Sources, pp.395-400.
Who was Kim Jongpil (Kim Chŏng-p’il) and what role did he play?
How did the military see its role in Korea in 1961?
Why didn’t the people of Korea resist this strangling of democracy?
How did the US react to the coup?
What was the KCIA?
Economic Growth under Park
Year
Per-capita income (2006 $)
1965
$1,295
1968
1,615
1971
1,912
1974
2,279
1977
2,933
1980
3,221
Growth of GDP: averaged 8.2%/yr between 1962 and 1980.
New Village Movement and village life
Annual Growth Rates
• 1962. 2.1
• 1963. 9.1
• 1964 9.6
• 1965 5.8
• 1966 12.7
1969 13.8
1976 14.1
1970 7.6
1977
12.7
1971 8.8
1978
9.7
1972 5.7
1979
6.5
1973 14.1
1980
—
5.2
• 1967
• 1968
6.6
1974 7.7
11.2
1975 6.9
Park’s policies
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
government encouraged borrowing from international lenders by Chaebŏl
government directed investment into areas its economic advisors suggested
normalized relations with Japan, and earned money from Vietnam War
export-oriented (to earn foreign exchange) instead of import substitution.
force used to keep wages low so that Korean goods could be competitive.
started with labour-intensive industries, but then moved on to capitalintensive.
New Village movement--designed to make villagers more productive.
Factors which helped
Korea
•
•
•
state intervened to keep prices “wrong,” made sure that
subsidies kept Korean products competitive in overseas
markets
state imposed performance standards on companies (unlike
Rhee)
emphasis on education led to an abundant supply of engineers,
who could help deal with imported technology (but that did help
India at the time)
State intervention
• Government control of banking
• control of capital flight
• price controls
• wage controls
• unions were government controlled.
• Economic Planning Board gave
administrative guidance.
Good timing
• World markets were beginning to open
up to goods from other countries
• Japan was moving beyond the first stage
of industrial exports
• there were financial institutions able to
lend money to Korean corporations.
Chaebŏl
• unlike zaibatusu, did not own banks until
recently.
• family owned, not publicly-owned
• top-down direction, not consensus like in
Japan
• Tended to have more engineers than
managers
•
Hire the best, by paying better salaries
than smaller industries.
Negative and Positive effects
• Negative: uneven development, favouring Seoul
and the southeast over the southwest.
• sacrificed democracy for economic growth
• created tension in society as the rich grew richer
and the poor grew frustrated (even though, for
many of them, their incomes grew as well
• Positive: A middle class began to emerge, which
created pressure for democracy.
• Koreans ate better, had better homes, were
healthier and in general begin to have a higher
standard of living.