In defense of ‘community-driven development’
Former knowledge economy minister re-reads economic rise
By Kwaak Je-yup
Koreans, especially those aged 50 and above, love to tell the story of the country’s astonishing rise to economic prosperity that we see today. But who would be better-informed to do it than a lifetime civil servant at the movement’s core?
Choi Joong-kyung, 56, former minister of knowledge economy, took the civil service entrance exam in 1978 and has worked on economic and financial affairs in relevant government and international bodies ever since. Based on his experience, he tries to explain in his new book why Korea could achieve so much in relatively so little time.
“Green Frog’s Success Story” refers to a rather grim children’s tale about a baby amphibian defying his mom’s orders and ultimately causing her untimely death. “Green frog” is an idiom for an intentionally and consistently misbehaving child. In this case, the author points to the country’s government-dictated development model that went directly against the contemporary Western faith in a free market.
The sweeping recap of modern Korea’s so-called community driven development, better known as the “Saemaeul” movement, is told in a style that the author sums up best: “Even if things are as complicated as it gets, isn’t it best if it could be explained in a simple fashion?”
And this is the perfect description of this 300-pager, touching upon the significance of the Korean success story, reviewing the reasons behind it, re-organizing it into a neat formula and suggesting a way ahead, all in a picture-perfect version that has little room for disagreement.
Its significance lies in its representational value. His words reflect the singular beliefs of his highly patriotic generation, i.e. how they see the past and more importantly how they assert the notion that the end justifies the means.
Examples of forced resident relocations for dam constructions or even the deployment of armed forces to Vietnam are praised as instances of community-driven decisions taken for a greater good. Democratic deficits are considered trivial vis-a-vis economic prosperity; the well-recorded tragedies under the dictatorships are simply glanced over, often left unmentioned.
The story of East Asian countries’ incredulously speedy rise is a subject that fascinates all development scholars around the world as well as government officials in lesser-developed nations. Furthermore, it has spawned the wisdom of resisting the pressure towards unconditional free trade, especially when a state has few to no competitive advantages.
Therefore, Choi is most convincing when he writes on such topics, especially about converting a given state’s biggest disadvantage into its most powerful asset, namely overpopulation into affordable skilled labor.
The conspicuous pitfall in this model ― an issue that the author often skirts around ― is corruption. Choi claims that if small in amount, bribes can be overlooked for a greater cause, something that economist Jang Ha-joon has previously written about. But these necessary evils, Choi says, are automatically eliminated when civil servants’ incomes surpass a certain point. If his readers look at the headlines daily, they will know this has yet to become a reality.
It may be irresistible to look at the past with glorified rhetoric, patting oneself on the back with much admiration. But the truth is much more complicated _ and will not be discovered in this book.