Topic Essay Question on East Asia 3 pages

South Korea, Taiwan, North Korea

It is quite interesting to learn that the first two countries to be covered in this lecture, South Korea and Taiwan, live with almost identical physiographical limitations as Japan. Let us start with the map of Korea. It is a small peninsula, budding out from the eastern corner of the Asian continent. That peninsula has been divided into the South and the North since 1945 at the end of World War II. Territorially, South Korea is the size of the State of Utah, but its population is nearly 50 million. This means there are 480 people living in a square mile. Can you imagine the population density of his small country? South Korea’s population pressure is exacerbated by the presence of rugged mountain region. (Seventy-five percent of the entire peninsula is of mountainous regions. To you left is an image of Korean mountain range.) Seoul, South Korea’s capital, contains nearly 25% of entire population. This is the first strike.

Then, there is a historical strike. First, Korea was colonization by Japan in the first half of the Twentieth Century. Do you recall from my lecture on Japan? Japan in the same period was going through an economic and industrial takeoff, requiring a large quantity of cheap natural recourse and foodstuff, as well as low-paid laborers. Korea was a perfect colony for Japan, for it provided all of the requirements of Japan’s growth and expansion. The two counties are separated by a narrow channel called the

Korea Strait. Indeed, Japan thoroughly exploited Koreans to the extent that it even recruited sex slaves from Korea, young women more than 200,000 in total, who were sent to battlefronts to have sex with the Japanese soldiers in World War II. Millions of Korean men were forced to serve in the Japanese army and work in the factories of Japan to support the war effort. Such colonial exploits left bitterness in the hearts of the nations that were once

colonized or exploited by Japan. (The pictures in this paragraph show South Koreans’ anti- Japanese feelings.)

After World War II was over, Korea was divided into the Community North Korea, and pro-U.S. South Korea. In 1950, five years after the division of the peninsula, the Korean War erupted as the North attacked the South. The U.S. intervened to save South Korea from being overrun by North Korea. After nearly three years of fighting, South Korea was spared, but at an appalling cost.The casualties of this war were, the death of 3 million Koreans of both the North and South.

(Left is an image of Korean War orphan.) The war created 5 million refugees. American casualties alone were 53,000 death and 100,000 wounded. The property loss in the South was about $2 billion. Since the end of the Korean War, two Koreas have remained hostile toward each other. The tension between the two is high and the military budget debilitating to both countries. (The picture to your right shows North and South Korean (blue uniform) border guards on duty.)

And the third strike. South Korea, unlike the North, has very little

industrial resource to rely on for its industrialization. South Korea, as well as North Korea import their entire petroleum needs.

We are now going to visit Taiwan and you will be quite surprised to know that this country, too, suffered from geographical and historical strikes that are almost identical to those of South Korea.

Taiwan is smaller than Switzerland. But on that island, there are 22.6 million inhabitants. Switzerland, by the way, has 7.1 million people. One more, nearly half of the island is of highlands. There is Taiwan’s first strike.

Second, Taiwan, too, has had turbulent history. Taiwan, called Formosa, was colonized by Japan at the turn of the Twentieth century like Korea. However, it was not as thoroughly exploited by Japan because, back then, it was not as populous as Korea.

Taiwan’s more serious historical upheavals began in 1949 when the Chinese Civil War ended in the defeat of the nationalist government in the mainland of China by the Communist forces. (Picture to the left shows the panic in Shanghai at

the end of the Chinese Revolution.) The remnants of the nationalist forces had to flea the mainland and settle on the island. By the way, the nationalist forces that fled to Taiwan persecuted a large number of the original inhabitants of the island. So, you may say that Taiwan, as a nation, started from scratch in 1949. Taiwan, too, is not rich in natural resource. Again, the most precious resource for industrialization, petroleum and iron ore, are imported. (To the rights is Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek with his wife who was forced to flea to Taiwan, later became the Republic of China.)

Now, let us analyze the developmental level of these countries. South Korea is the twelfth largest economy in the world with GNP per capita of $17,300. Nearly 80 percent of its population lives in urbanized areas. And its export products are easy to find in the U.S. markets. You are probably familiar with brand names such as Samsung, Hyundai, Kia, LG and so on. South Korea's Samsung is the largest smart phone as well as memory chip maker in the world. Also, Korea’ Hyundai Heavy Industry, Inc, is

the biggest shipbuilder in the world. When you walk into any consumer electronics stores in the United States, you will have extremely difficult time tying to bypass top-notch products from South Korea. This is the country whose GNP per capita was $100 in 1963. Left is Samsung billboard at Time Square, New York City.)

Let’s look at Taiwan. The author of our textbook, de Blij, describes the economic performance of Taiwan as follows:

Taiwan has a developing iron and steel industry, nuclear power plants, shipyards, a large chemical

industry, and modern transport networks. Increasingly however, Taiwan is exporting products of its budding high-technology industries: personal computers, telecommunications equipment, and precision electronic instruments.

In other words, Taiwan has traditional manufacturing, as well as high-tech industries (Just like the capital city Taipei to right.). As de Blij writes,

In some ways, Taiwan’s emergence as an economic tiger on the Pacific Rim is even more spectacular than Japan’s....Today, per- capita income is well above $10,000 per year, which is higher than that in many European countries. Taiwan’s trade surplus has yielded tens of billions of dollars in reserves, which is being used to further its own development and to invest overseas.

What is our next task? I am sure you have gotten familiar with the organization of my lecture. We should find out what factors have enabled these two countries to achieve such a rapid pace of development?

Let’s start with the high level of education amongst the people of South Korea and Taiwan. According to de Blij: “Taiwan has enormous brainpower.” This is also true of South Korea that has one of the highest literacy rates in the world. Educated population means an efficient workforce that companies can rely on.

Second, an “export-oriented manufacturing” model. This is also known as “product-cycle” model. As we have discussed already, these two countries did not have much resource other than its well educated, but relatively cheap labor force. In the 1960s and 1970s, these two countries first developed labor-intensive industries such as textiles, footwear and assembly lines that put together rudimentary consumer electronics such as transistor radios. But by the 1990s the economy shifted to more capital-intensive industries such as shipbuilding, petrochemicals, heavy machinery, electronics, and automobiles.

Now these two countries have found their niches in the high-tech industries. (The above picture shows Korea's export products being shipped to foreign markets. It is estimated that seventy percent of South Korea's economy is tied to foreign trade, and this is the reason why South Korea's is called "export-driven" economy. To the left we see Taiwan’s Evergreen container terminal. Evergreen is the one of the best Trans-Pacific

shipping companies in the world.)

Third element in Taiwan and South Korea’s economic development has been the role of the government. In a system known as “state capitalism,” the government has undertaken a key role in attracting foreign capital, building industrial areas for foreign companies to setup production, and nurturing key export industries. (It should be noted that South Korea has relied more on this approach to economic development than Taiwan has.)

The last element in Taiwan and South Korea’s rapid economic developments is the nurturing role of the U.S. When we look at the map of Asia, it is obvious why after World War II, Taiwan and South Korea became vital to U.S. security interests. They face the Asian landmass that has turned Communist. In other words, it was imperative to U.S. strategic interest that Taiwan and South Korea remain staunch anti- Communist country.

These two countries received every conceivable assistance -- military, political, economic -- that enabled them to not only remain anti-Communist, but also serve as the forward position of the U.S. forces in Asia. Even today, American forces are stationed in South Korea and Taiwan. This is known as a patron-client relationship, where the patron, the U.S., has contributed to the economic well being of its clients while protecting them militarily.

This formula of economic development, of course, has not been perfect. First, this model has engendered what is known as “developmental dictatorship,” highly undemocratic governments that sacrificed democratic ideals for a rapid economic growth. For example, a meaningful democracy did not exist until the 1990s both in Taiwan and South Korea. Before then, South Korea was rule by a series of military dictators who suppressed genuine labor movements, thereby allowing exploitation of the workers. In South Korea gap between the haves and have-nots is still significant. The people of Taiwan, on the other hand, had a state of emergency until the 1980s during which the ruling Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) monopolized power. So, the miraculous economic achievements of Taiwan and South Korea were not without their darker side. (The two pictures above show two engines of Taiwan's impressive economic development -- high tech and traditional industrial manufacturing sectors.)

Before I conclude this lecture, let me say a few words about North Korea, which is an enigma to the outside world. It is a communist country, but unlike any other communist country in the world. Since it founding in 1945, it has had only two leaders, who are father and son.

In any event, North Korea is suffering from disastrous economic failures that have plagued that

country since the early 1990s. As of now, its industry is under-producing because of lack of fuel and resource, while a combination of failed agricultural policies and environmental extremes created famine that has contributed to death of more than one million North Koreans.

Despite economic failures, North Korea did achieve progress in nuclear capability and associated weapon technologies. In 1999 North Korea successfully test fired a missile across northern Japan, winning international shock and attention. Since then, U.S. intelligence community believes, North Korea has developed missiles that can threaten at least the west coast of the U.S. North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have forced its neighbors, notably, Japan and South Korea, to contribute to rebuilding of its economy. This is the primary reason why North Korea is known as a “nation of brinkmanship” or “rogue state.” In any event, North Korea’s economic restructuring has been frustratingly slow because of its poor infrastructure and the regime’s reluctance to move too quickly toward market economy. Above, we are looking at two symbols of North Korea’s military prowess, its army and missiles. (By the way, North Korea recently had transition of power to Kim Jung Eun, 29, far right, who inherited the supreme leader’s position from his father, Kim Jong Il, middle, who had died in December

2011. That means, North Koreans have lived under leadership of three generations of Kims, starting from Kim Il Sung, the far left.)

In conclusion, all of Northeast Asian countries, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, have one thing in common: overwhelming physiographical challenges

and historical upheavals. However, except in the case of North Korea, they have managed to develop themselves by utilizing their human resources and America’s strategic interest in the region.