From Cottage Industry to Global Export Powerhouse in 60 Years
An arch above Sejongno Boulevard, central, Seoul, reads “Congratulations for $20 Billion in Exports” in this 1981 file photo. Nov. 30 was designated as “Export Day” in Korea to commemorate the first achievement of $100 million in exports in 1964. In 1987, the name was changed to “Trade Day” to promote balanced growth of exports and imports. / Korea TimesBy Kim Yoon-bae Professor of University of Kentucky Economic growth in Korea over the past six decades has been phenomenal. For 60 years until 2008, real GDP rose at the annual rate of nearly 7 percent. The growth of exports was even more staggering. In dollar terms, exports rose from a meager $28 million in 1952 to more than $400 billion in 2008. As a result, the export dependency or openness ratio ― measured by the ratio of exports to GDP ― rose from a level less than 5 percent in 1960 to a level exceeding 40 percent in the past few years. Until the early 1960s, the main exports were entirely composed of raw materials, minerals, lumber, agricultural and fishery goods. It reflected the miserabl
Apr 9, 2010
