MODERNIZATION OF SOUTH KOREA: ORIGINS, ACHIEVEMENTS, AND THE EXPERIENCE FOR UKRAINE

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15407/economyukr.2021.09.041

Keywords:

the Republic of Korea; economic modernization; modern technology; Confucianism; Protestantism; value system; welfare state; strategic conflict; competitive democracy.

Abstract

Considered the causes and results of the economic achievements of South Korea, which for one generation’s lifetime had managed to leapfrog from poverty to the top of the world’s advanced economies. Analyzed the similarity between the problems of the Republic of Korea, which has been at war with its northern neighbor for more than 70 years, and Ukraine since 2014, as both countries are at the epicenter of strategic conflicts in Eurasia, in which basic interests of world powers collide. Confucianism is analyzed as a model of social and personal relations that has absorbed the wisdom and experience of the millennia-old civilization, demonstrated its exceptional viability, capacity to dynamically modernize and creatively assimilate the achievements of other cultures and civilizations. There is a unique synthesis of values of the two most competitive systems of work ethic in the modern world – Confucianism and Protestantism, which ensured the phenomenal success of the South Korean modernization. It is argued that the very combination of strong socially responsible state, competitive structural democracy and social and labor ethics based on the amalgam of Confucian and Christian values gave effect to the “Miracle on the Han River.” It is shown that Ukraine and South Korea have a common position on the key issues of world order as well as promising bilateral relations, whereas the South Korean experience of economic modernization and development is of interest to Ukraine. Promising areas of Ukrainian-South Korean economic cooperation, such as electronics and IT technologies, renewable energy, aerospace and aviation industry, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and healthcare are substantiated. Ukraine may benefit from the ROK’s positive experience in developing such areas as private entrepreneurship, small and medium business support, that would help practically solve the problem of microcredit and attract investment in the real sector of Ukraine's economy.

References

Lone S., McCormack G. Korea since 1850. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, 1993, pp. xi, 226, pp. 184-185.

Kistersky L., Marmazov V., Piliaev I. Miracle on the Han River. What is interesting about the experience of the Republic of Korea for Ukraine. Day, May 14, 2021, p. 7 [in Ukrainian].

doi.org/10.15407/economyukr.2021.09.041

Kim S. Introduction. In: Confucianism, Law, and Democracy in Contemporary Korea. S. Kim (Ed.). London; New York, Rowman & Littlefield, 2015, pp. 5-24.

Sweijs T. et al. Why are Pivot States so Pivotal? The Role of Pivot States in Regional and Global Security. The Hague. The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS). 2014, 51 p.

Wu Yu-Shan. Pivot, Hedger, or Partner Strategies of Lesser Powers Caught between Hegemons. In: Taiwan and China. D. Lowell (Ed.). Berkeley, CA. University of California Press, 2017, pp. 197-220.

doi.org/10.1525/luminos.38.k

Kindzerskyi Y. Inclusive Industrialization for Sustainable Development: to the Principles of Formation Theory and Policy. Economy of Ukraine, 2021, No. 5, pp. 3-39 [in Ukrainian].

doi.org/10.15407/economyukr.2021.05.003

Choi W. et al. Beyond Korean style: Shaping a new growth formula. McKinsey & Company. McKinsey Global Institute. 2013, 96 p. Available at: www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Asia%20Pacific/Beyond%20Korean%20Style/MGI_Beyond_Korean_style_Full_report_Apr2013.ashx

Swiston A. Korea's Growth Prospects: Overcoming Demographics and COVID-19. IMF Working Paper. Washington, DC. International Monetary Fund. March 2021, 37 p.

doi.org/10.5089/9781513575216.001

Jamrisko M., Lu W., Tanzi A. South Korea Leads World in Innovation as U.S. Exits Top Ten. Bloomberg. 2021, February 3, available at: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-03/south-korea-leads-world-in-innovation-u-s-drops-out-of-top-10

Schwak J. K-Quarantine: exporting South Korea's COVID-19 management strategy. East Asia Forum. 2021, March 11, available at: www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/03/11/k-quarantine-exporting-south-koreas-covid-19-management-strategy/

Schweitzer A. Civilization and Ethics, Ch. I 'The Problem of the Optimistic World-View'. Princeton, NJ: A. & C. Black, Limited, 1923, pp. 11-19.

Sancho I. Does Confucianism Matter in the Study of Korea? EPEL lecture. University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 2015. Submitted on 23 July 2020, available at: hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02905246/document

Mitu B. Confucianism and the Contemporary Korean Society. Romanian Journal of Sociological Studies, 2015, No. 1, pp. 31-38.

Choi Y. The History of Confucianism in Korea, in: Chang W., Kalmanson L. (Eds.). Confucianism in Context: Classic Philosophy and Contemporary Issues, East Asia and Beyond. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2010, pp. 33-52.

Kistersky L., Romanenko O. (Eds.). Reformation: The Success of Europe and a Chance for Ukraine. Prague: Coretex CZ SE, 2020, 300 p.

Kistersky L., Burlyai A., Lypova T. "The Marshall Plan" for Ukraine. Strategic Panorama, 2000, No. 3-4, pp. 90-97 [in Ukrainian].

Sudakova N. How Korea has become a technological leader in 40 years from a backward agrarian country. Vedomosti. February 14, 2019, available at: www.vedomosti.ru/partner/articles/2019/02/14/793589-futuristicheskaya-volna [in Russian].

Omelchenko T. Ambassador of the Republic of Korea: "For small and medium-sized Korean entrepreneurs, investing in Ukraine is very risky." Mind, 2021, February 16, available at: mind.ua/ru/publications/20222205-posol-respubliki-koreya-dlya-malyh-i-srednih-korejskih-predprinimatelej-investirovanie-v-ukrainu-yavl?fbclid=IwAR1VsdyhcATyfLvTyZDKWOrVM3mJyBcPtrEdmDXhTGxwThVen-qx0AhBKbA [in Ukrainian].

Carrol L. Through the Looking-Glass, And What Alice Found There. Ch. 2. Salt Lake City, UT. The Project Gutenberg eBook, 1991 [Most recently updated: April 28, 2021], available at: www.gutenberg.org/files/12/12-h/12-h.htm

Downloads

Published

30.07.2024

How to Cite

KISTERSKY, L., MARMAZOV, V., & PILIAIEV, I. (2024). MODERNIZATION OF SOUTH KOREA: ORIGINS, ACHIEVEMENTS, AND THE EXPERIENCE FOR UKRAINE. Economy of Ukraine, 64(9 (718), 41–60. https://doi.org/10.15407/economyukr.2021.09.041

Issue

Section

Economy of foreign countries