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My Korean friends often ask me how Korea can help the rest of the world. Having spent nine years studying Korea and Korean studies, I believe there are six policies about which Koreans should be proud and share with the rest of the world.
Labor intensive economic development: In the 1960s, Korea had a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of less than $300 and less than 50 companies had more than 200 employees. It is hard to believe given the GDP has increased thirty-three fold and Samsung has more than 30,000 employees today.
Most developing countries have problems with corruption and poor economic planning. Korea's labor-intensive economic development, starting with labor-intensive industries such as textiles before moving to more sophisticated industries such as steel, chemicals and shipbuilding helped Korea rise out of poverty. The government and the private sector worked hand-in-hand and pragmatic planning ensured success.
The "3-S" policy: In the early 1980s, the government decided to launch the 3-S policy to curb civil unrest: the sex, screen and sports policy. This policy paved the way for hallyu, the Korean wave, and for Korea organizing world-class sporting events.
Today Koreans are sports and screen enthusiasts. They often make it in the top 10 in the medal rankings at the Olympics, have world-class athletes in both summer and winter sports. Korean entertainment has fans around the world, helping build a positive image of South Korea.
Non-violent, pragmatic democratization: In the late 1980s, democratization movements in Korea were non-violent, pragmatic and successful. There were no extremist elements among demonstrators who simply wanted a more egalitarian and fair society.
Today Koreans have egalitarian access to jobs in the public and private sector through examination systems that prevent nepotism. Unlike the past, if politicians are suspected of foul play, they are forced to quit.
"Segyehwa" (Globalization) policy: Another successful Korean policy was Kim Young Sam's globalization policy. While in 1993 Korea had few bilingual people who could join the workforce, today there is no shortage of bilingual people. Korea has also become an important player in the world stage, and has welcomed people from all over the world to join the workforce.
While before 1993 Koreans could not travel abroad without kimchi, and foreign food was thought of by many as being an abomination, today foreign restaurants have sprang up all over Korea catering to Koreans and foreigners alike.
Structural economic crisis recovery: When the IMF crisis hit in 1997, many foreign observers thought it would be followed by political unrest. Koreans stayed calm, donated their gold and trusted their government. The government proved it deserved the people's trust, and pulled the country out of a catastrophic recession in less than four years.
Koreans also proved the world that when it borrows money, it pays it back. Structural changes were made in Korea which helped the country become a first-class economic power.
Government taking the blame for disasters: In most countries, when a disaster occurs, the government blames it on others, locals or foreigners. I know a lot of countries where government officials imprisoned sometimes innocent people when disasters occur.
In Korea however, as we saw with the recent Sewol tragedy, the government took the blame and apologized several times. Top government officials resigned and the public administration is being reformed.
These six ways to govern are what should make Koreans proud. I find that my Korean friends often look to Europe or North America and see themselves as weak, rather than seeing themselves as a country that paved its way out of poverty in a record time.
When Koreans travel to countries which are not that developed, they may find that they have several governance lessons they can teach such countries. Koreans should look at their past with pride rather than thinking that they are still a small country with nothing to teach the rest of the world.
Akli Hadid is a Ph.D. candidate at the Academy of Korean Studies. His email address is hadid. akli@gmail.com.
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