Labor Strategy for Industrialization in South Korea

EVERY DEVELOPING COUNTRY has been trying to achieve economic growth and to enhance the living standards of the people by building an industrialized society. It is the concern with these issues that to a significant degree underlies the debates between modernization and dependency theorists. Moore pointed out that the requirements for modern economic development include the quest for improvement and political stability.' Berg added that there are three prerequisites for industrialization and economic growth: human capital formation, social and organizational technology, and physical capital formation.2 Most developing countries are deficient in one or more of these prerequisites. Although the first of these might be internally achieved, the others cannot be attained in a short period. For rapid growth and industrialization, developing countries must borrow from developed countries. However, dependency theorists worry and warn that the flow of foreign technology or capital may result in such dependency on the developed country as to be counter-productive for the developing country.3 Therefore, a population who seeks to continue on the road to industrialization must carefully evaluate the road to development. The purpose of this paper is to consider South Korea's road to industrialization in light of South Korea's economic success which is regarded as one of the few success stories of economic growth and industrialization of a developing country. Over the past quarter century, South Korea sustained an unusually high GNP, averaging 9.2 percent annually.4 The economic growth of South Korea has been an inspiration to many developing countries because it is a small country with meager raw materials and scanty capital.