The Park Chung Hee Era: The Transformation of South Korea

by Byung-Kook Kim (Editor), Ezra F. Vogel (Editor), Chang Jae Baik (Contribution by), Jorge I. Domínguez (Contribution by), Yong-Sup Han (Contribution by)

Overview

In 1961 South Korea was mired in poverty. By 1979 it had a powerful industrial economy and a vibrant civil society in the making, which would lead to a democratic breakthrough eight years later. The transformation took place during the years of Park Chung Hee's presidency. Park seized power in a coup in 1961 and ruled as a virtual dictator until his assassination in October 1979. He is credited with modernizing South Korea, but at a huge political and social cost.

South Korea's political landscape under Park defies easy categorization. The state was predatory yet technocratic, reform-minded yet quick to crack down on dissidents in the name of political order. The nation was balanced uneasily between opposition forces calling for democratic reforms and the Park government's obsession with economic growth. The chaebol (a powerful conglomerate of multinationals based in South Korea) received massive government support to pioneer new growth industries, even as a nationwide campaign of economic shock therapy-interest hikes, devaluation, and wage cuts-met strong public resistance and caused considerable hardship.

This landmark volume examines South Korea's era of development as a study in the complex politics of modernization. Drawing on an extraordinary range of sources in both English and Korean, these essays recover and contextualize many of the ambiguities in South Korea's trajectory from poverty to a sustainable high rate of economic growth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674072312
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	03/11/2013
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	744
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Byung-Kook Kim is Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University.

Ezra F. Vogel (1930-2020) is the author of Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and winner of the Lionel Gelber Prize, and of the international bestseller Japan as Number One. He was Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus at Harvard University.

Jorge I. Domínguez is Antonio Medero Professor of Mexican and Latin American Politics and Economics at Harvard University.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Case for Political History Byung-Kook Kim 1

Part 1 Born in a Crisis

1 The May Sixteenth Military Coup Yong-Sup Han 35

2 Taming and Tamed by the United States Taehyun Kim Chang Jae Baik 58

3 State Building: The Military Junta's Path to Modernity through Administrative Reforms Hyung-A Kim 85

Part 2 Politics

4 Modernization Strategy: Ideas and Influences Chung-in Moon and Byung-joon Jun 115

5 The Labyrinth of Solitude: Park and the Exercise of Presidential Power Byung-Kook Kim 140

6 The Armed Forces Joo-Hong Kim 168

7 The Leviathan: Economic Bureaucracy under Park Byung-Kook Kim 200

8 The Origins of the Yushin Regime: Machiavelli Unveiled Hyug Baeg Im 233

Part 3 Economy and Society

9 The Chaebol Eun Mee Kim Gil-Sung Park 265

10 The Automobile Industry Nae-Young Lee 295

11 Pohang Iron & Steel Company Sang-young Rhyu Seok-jin Lew 322

12 The Countryside Young Jo Lee 345

13 The Chaeya Myung-Lim Park 373

Part 4 International Relations

14 The Vietnam War: South Korea's Search for National Security Min Yong Lee 403

15 Normalization of Relations with Japan: Toward a New Partnership Jung-Hoon Lee 430

16 The Security, Political, and Human Rights Conundrum, 1974-1979 Yong-Jick Kim 457

17 The Search for Deterrence: Park's Nuclear Option Sung Gul Hong 483

Part 5 Comparative Perspective

18 Nation Rebuilders: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Lee Kuan Yew Deng Xiaoping Park Chung Hee Ezra F. Vogel 513

19 Reflections on a Reverse Image: South Korea under Park Chung Hee and the Philippines under Ferdinand Marcos Paul D. Hutchcroft 542

20 The Perfect Dictatorship? South Korea versus Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico Jorge I. Domínguez 573

21 Industrial Policy in Key Developmental Sectors: South Korea versus Japan and Taiwan Gregory W. Noble 603

Conclusion: The Post-Park Era Byung-Kook Kim 629

Notes 651

Acknowledgments 737

List of Contributors 739

Index of Persons 741

Editorial Reviews

Somehow [this] escaped the notice of much of the broader world...This [collection] is superb, as it offers a very detailed and also fairly comprehensive look at the seminal years for South Korean economic growth…Not everyone will want 650 pp. on economic (and other) policy under South Korean autocracy, but if you do this is the book for you.

Marginal Revolution - Tyler Cowen

This significant work on the Park Chung Hee era is composed of 21 chapters by as many Korean specialists...The work provides an enhanced understanding of the political and economic goals of Park Chung Hee (i.e., rich country and strong military) and the forceful means he was willing to use to achieve these goals. The scope and insightfulness of this collection of essays on this critical period in South Korean history make it a must for undergraduate and graduate library collections on Korea. It is strongly recommended for private collections on Korea as well.

Choice - J. M. Peek

Park emerges in these essays as a remarkably skillful politician, and the political dimensions of almost all economic policies were foremost in his calculations...This excellent collection of essays convincingly argues that any examination of South Korea as a model of how a poor country can climb out of poverty needs to factor in the personality of Park Chung Hee and the domestic and international politics of the time.

The Historian - Michael J. Seth

This remarkable book will establish itself as the most significant work on the Park period.

Stephan Haggard

Somehow [this] escaped the notice of much of the broader world...This [collection] is superb, as it offers a very detailed and also fairly comprehensive look at the seminal years for South Korean economic growth…Not everyone will want 650 pp. on economic (and other) policy under South Korean autocracy, but if you do this is the book for you.
— Tyler Cowen

Marginal Revolution

This significant work on the Park Chung Hee era is composed of 21 chapters by as many Korean specialists...The work provides an enhanced understanding of the political and economic goals of Park Chung Hee (i.e., rich country and strong military) and the forceful means he was willing to use to achieve these goals. The scope and insightfulness of this collection of essays on this critical period in South Korean history make it a must for undergraduate and graduate library collections on Korea. It is strongly recommended for private collections on Korea as well.
— J. M. Peek

Choice

Park emerges in these essays as a remarkably skillful politician, and the political dimensions of almost all economic policies were foremost in his calculations...This excellent collection of essays convincingly argues that any examination of South Korea as a model of how a poor country can climb out of poverty needs to factor in the personality of Park Chung Hee and the domestic and international politics of the time.
— Michael J. Seth

The Historian

This remarkable book will establish itself as the most significant work on the Park period.
— Stephan Haggard, Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California San Diego

Park emerges in these essays as a remarkably skillful politician, and the political dimensions of almost all economic policies were foremost in his calculations...This excellent collection of essays convincingly argues that any examination of South Korea as a model of how a poor country can climb out of poverty needs to factor in the personality of Park Chung Hee and the domestic and international politics of the time.
— Michael J. Seth The Historian

This significant work on the Park Chung Hee era is composed of 21 chapters by as many Korean specialists...The work provides an enhanced understanding of the political and economic goals of Park Chung Hee (i.e., rich country and strong military) and the forceful means he was willing to use to achieve these goals. The scope and insightfulness of this collection of essays on this critical period in South Korean history make it a must for undergraduate and graduate library collections on Korea. It is strongly recommended for private collections on Korea as well.
— J. M. Peek Choice

Somehow [this] escaped the notice of much of the broader world...This [collection] is superb, as it offers a very detailed and also fairly comprehensive look at the seminal years for South Korean economic growth…Not everyone will want 650 pp. on economic (and other) policy under South Korean autocracy, but if you do this is the book for you.
— Tyler Cowen Marginal Revolution

From the Publisher