Electronics: a mainstay of Korean economy
By Alan Biggs
By all indications, the growth of Korea’s electronics industry epitomizes its rapid advance over the past six decades and, to a certain extent, may be said to have driven it. After the Korean War (1950-53) the country was a divided and demoralized nation in abject poverty, lacking non-human natural resources and facing never-ending security threats. Under these circumstances, what were the best economic policies to pursue? Just guess! What was thought of then was the utilization of its abundant manpower, development of new and prospective industries, encouragement of import substitution, promotion of exports, the effective use of aid from the U.S. and the coordination of government policies with Korea’s new entrepreneurial class.
Early Days - electrics
Although an electricity generator was imported in 1898 and in the pre-war years, there was some minor development in electrical production, the electric industry suffered a serious setback in 1948 when North Korea (with a fairly large generating capacity built on ample coal and water resources) cut off its po
Aug 25, 2010
