From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   QUORA: WHY ARE SOUTH KOREA & JAPAN SO PROSPEROUS, BUT THE US-BACKED SOUTH   
   AMERICAN REGIMES SO POOR?   
   ---answered by Alex Piascik, Studied at SUNY Fredonia, 3 years ago   
   I’ll focus on South Korea because their story is even more dramatic than   
   Japan’s, although both countries employed a very similar strategy.   
      
   South Korea literally rose from the ashes to become one of the richest   
   countries in the world today. In 1955 their per-capita GDP was $64; today   
   it’s around $30,000, an increase of almost 500-FOLD.   
      
   They went from this: [photo of shacks]   
   To this in a single generation: [photo of skyscrapers]   
      
   How?  The answer lies with the chaebols, family-run conglomerates that   
   dominate the South Korean economy. In the U.S. and Europe we’re all familiar   
   with Samsung phones and Hyundai cars, but within S. Korea itself these   
   companies reach into every corner    
   of day-to-day life.   
      
   Let’s look at Samsung, the most famous chaebol that makes up almost 15% of   
   South Korea’s economy.   
      
   You can get a university degree at Samsung-affiliated Sungkyunkwan University,   
   then get a job at Samsung and move into your new apartment at Samsung Tower   
   Palace which is equipped with a Samsung-manufactured home security system, air   
   conditioner, TV,    
   refrigerator, oven and microwave. When you get sick you can get treated at   
   Samsung Medical Center in the Gangnam district in Seoul. When you want to get   
   married you can do so at a Samsung-owned venue, and when it’s time to retire   
   you can go to a    
   Samsung retirement home. When your time is up, your funeral arrangements can   
   be handled by a Samsung funeral parlor.   
      
   The chaebols expanded their influence during the Park Chung-hee era. Park was   
   a military dictator who ruled South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in   
   1979. The companies were designated for special treatment by the government in   
   order to jump    
   start industrialization and modernize South Korea’s economy. A number of   
   strategies were employed: the firms were protected from foreign competition   
   through tariffs, and given loan guarantees which enabled them to invest and   
   build new factories.    
   Government economic policy favored exports in order to gain foreign capital   
   for further investment. Over time, repeated investment enabled the chaebols to   
   move up the value-added chain, producing more complex, sophisticated products   
   that enabled these    
   companies to then compete directly with their American and European   
   competitors.   
      
   You can see this most easily with cars. Early Korean imports from Hyundai and   
   Kia were in the low-end segments of the market, compacts and mid-sized sedans.   
   An obsessive focus on reliability enabled them to gain new customers, and   
   supply chain efficiency    
   made them profitable in a low-margin segment of the market. As they got better   
   they started to compete in the more profitable, upper end of the market:   
   SUV’s, luxury sedans and hybrids.   
      
   This symbiotic relationship between government and business, coupled with the   
   insane work ethic of the Korean people, is what transformed South Korea into   
   the country we know today. The U.S. contribution to this was military. By   
   providing protection    
   through the U.S. / South Korea Mutual Defense Treaty, South Korea was shielded   
   from external threats and given the stability needed for the country to   
   develop. But the bulk of the credit has to go to the Korean people and their   
   leaders, including Park, a    
   brutal dictator who nevertheless set the stage for the remarkable rise of the   
   chaebols.   
      
   Bottom line: the nations of South America have not done as well in marshaling   
   their people and resources. Poor political leadership, lack of coherent   
   strategy in economic policy, corruption, the drug trade, inadequate resources   
   devoted to education are    
   all factors that come into play. Compare this to South Korea: ALL of South   
   Korean society, beginning in the 1950’s, focused like a laser beam on one   
   goal, creating a prosperous society. The nations of South America…didn’t.   
      
   There are downsides to the Korean strategy that are causing a great deal of   
   suffering among her people, which is why many young S. Koreans refer to their   
   country as “Hell Joseon” (Joseon was an ancient dynasty that ruled the   
   Korean peninsula until    
   the late 19th century). The competitive pressures of South Korean society have   
   created one of the highest suicide rates in the world and a rate of poverty   
   among the elderly of almost 50%.   
      
   So while the people of South America may not be as materially prosperous, they   
   don’t live in a pressure cooker society where everyone is constantly being   
   pushed to succeed and looked down upon if they don’t.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)