South Korea

History

National liberation occurred on August 15th 1945 as Japan surrendered the Pacific War; but the country was soon followed by territorial division. The Republic of Korea in the south has a democratic government, while the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north is ruled by a communist regime. The United States became the authority of South Korea in 1948 where it left a small group of military advisors.

North Korea invaded the South on June 25th 1950, which became the start of the three year Korean War. In accordance with its charter with South Korea the United Nations sent military assistance. The area that divides the north and south has become known as the Demilitarised Zone or DMZ. South Korea continues in its efforts to unify North and South Korea, after 1947 in which the North Koreans refused elections proposed by the U.N.

Consequences of rapid Industrialisation

Social

With such a high population overcrowding is a problem, 463 people/km in Korea. Also they is a great need for jobs and in some ways foreign investors like TNCs have come to the rescue of some by supplying them with some way of earning a living; but they are many problems that these workers encounter. The workers are exploited, they are working long hours for little pay and the women find themselves even worse off getting paid less than the men and as is Asian society looked upon as inferior.

Families become desperate at not earning enough money and so they send their children out to work in the factories, even though owners will deny that they are using child labour. There are no local taxes for the big TNCs, tax holidays and subsidised services, this is what attracts them. They workers are not allowed to talk or take breaks and can easily be sacked if they don't meet work deadlines.

Health problems arise from working in terrible conditions like eye ailments and breathing difficulties. Also because alot of jobs are dangerous due to their being no restrictions and no unions to fight the cause injuries and even deaths are common.

Positive effects of these investments though are that the money earnt means that the host countries GNP and GDP levels rise and the government has extra cash to invest back into the country, in areas such as infrastructure, health and education. The increase of facilities has meant women in secondary education has risen from 32% in 1970 to 88 % in 1991. Also Infant mortality levels have dropped from 40 to 17 from 1970 to 1991. These foreign companies also provide new technology and raw materials to the host country which are limited anyway with natural resources.

Environmental

In order to feed this population there are industries and agriculture that produce some of the largest amounts in the world. The waters surrounding Korea are littered with fishing boats. This industry is the seventh largest in the world with catches of 2.9 million metric tons a year. Rice, which is the major agricultural crop of Korea is grown on every part of flat land in Korea, right up to the towns and cities. Corn can even be found in areas around train stations. Every part of spare land is used for agriculture in Korea even up to the mountains where it will be terraced if it is not to steep.

Economic

These are the results that have come about through the nation's successful industrial program that began in the 1960's. Manufacturing grew rapidly in the 1980s and early 90s. To meet growing energy demand, Korea has 16 nuclear plants in operation, with two others under construction. The industrial production growth rate is 17% (2000).

As Korea's economy has developed, trade has become an increasingly important aspect of the U.S.-Korea relationship. South Korea is the United States' 8th largest trading partner. This was affected though in 1997 by the economic crisis of Southeast Asia. U.S. exports to Korea fell 34.2% in 1998 to $16.5 billion but things got better the following year with a rise of 39.4% in 1999 to $23.0 billion and 24% in 2000 to $28.0 billion. The U.S. is Korea's largest export market--followed by the EU and Japan. Korea's exports to the U.S. were $31.2 billion in 1999 and rose 29% to $40.3 billion in 2000.

One possible cause of the crisis were that the debt South Korea had amounted was for money that was only needed short term; it was mostly for the rapid increase in private sector borrowings. South Korea's external debt now totals $137 billion (Nov. 2000) after having to borrow $58 million after the crisis.