Download A case study of South Korea – A newly industrialised country

A case study of South Korea – A newly industrialised country
Although South Korea is technically a Less Economically developed country it
is now classed as a newly industrialised country (NIC). This is due to the
economic growth that it has seen since the start of World War 2. The term
NIC is applied to those countries that have not quite reached the status of a
developed country but have in an economic sense outpaced other developing
countries.
At the end of World War 2, South Korea remained largely dependent on U.S
aid, however an internal revolution occurred in South Korea in 1961. The new
rulers decided the country should become self-reliant by utilizing five-year
plans. They were designed to increase wealth within South Korea, and make
it more politically stable. A change in policy from import substitution (replace
imported goods with locally produced goods. Usually finished manufactured
goods), to export orientated (Selling goods abroad to increase
industrialisation).
The five-year plans
 1962 –1966 – focus on textiles and make south Korea self-sufficient
 1967- 1971 – begin to shift the state in to producing heavy industry
 1971 – 1976 – Continue to shift the state in to heavy industry (including
iron and steel
 1977 – 1981 – development of industries designed to compete on
world markets (electronics and cars)
 1982 –1986 – More attention was to be given to creating hightechnology products
 1987 –91 – continued to emphasise the goals of previous plans
 1992 – 1996 – Look in to developing aerospace, micro engineering.
Through the implementation of the five-year plans South Korea has changed
from an underdeveloped country after World War 2 to become the 14 th largest
economy in the world. It is a high-tech and rich manufacturing economy.
The country has focused upon high quality, skill intensive industries such as
electronics (LG) and cars (Hyundai). In order to develop they invested 14% of
their GDP in to education to create a skilled workforce. They have
successfully transformed their economy.
Use this information to answer the following questions.
1) What does import substitution mean?
2) What does export orientated mean?
Now complete the country profile on South Korea.