Text Size

Window to Korea’s Development Experiences

Development Overview/ Overview of Korea's development experience

Growth of the Manufacturing Sector// Is the 1960’s, the manufactufacturing sector started to play a leading role in Korea’s economic growth,
and between 1960 and 1970, Korea enjoyed an annual growth rate of 17 percent.

Rural Community Development// As part of a rural community development project, the Saemaul Movement significantly imporved
rural living conditions in such areas as roads, housing, water supply, sewage and irrigation.

Vocational Training and Education// Vocational training and education programs produced skilled manpower
required for industrialization.

Promoting Heavy and Chemical Industry// In the 1970s, the HCI (heavy and chemical industry) drive contributed
to forming the foundation of key industries that currently support the Korean economy.

Building Infrastructure// The successful completion of the first three Five-Year Plans (1962-1976)
led to the development of alternative transportation means, including expressways.

International Sports Events// Holding the Olympic Games stimulated 7 billion US dollars of production
and 2.7 billion US dollars of national income from 1981 to 1988.

Financial Sector Reform// Financial sector reform normalized the financial system and
rebuilt the financial safety net to prevent future crisis.

Technology Development// From the early 2000s, technological development was made possible by domestic R&D
activities and imports of capital goods that embody advanced technologies.

Themes/ One stop reference

Korea’s Stabilization Policies in the 1980s

Korea is well-known for its rapid economic development since the 1960s. Indeed, the economy took off with a series of 5-year development plans led by the President Park’s regime. The average annual growth rate during the two decades recorded almost 10 percent, which pushed up per capita income from below US$ 100 in 1960 to around US$ 1,700 in 1979. The whole society was truly dynamic and became more and more confident of its own economic success.
Deposit Insurance System in Korea

The deposit insurance system has been established at the end of 1995 in Korea and has been operated since then. Events during the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 have demonstrated the importance of effective depositor protection schemes.
The adoption of an explicit deposit insurance system is considered a way of either containing financial crises, or creating one of the important pillars of modern financial safety nets in the liberalized and globalized financial system.
White Revolution of Agriculture in Korea: The Achievement of Year-round Production and Distribution of Horticultural Crops by the Expansion of Greenhouse Cultivation

‘White Revolution’ as the period of modernization of structure, material and technology for greenhouse to achieve the rapid expansion of protected cultivation area and stable supply of vegetables, from 1970s to 1990s.
Expressway Construction and Management

The Korean Civil War lasted for three years in the early 1950s and it caused devastating damage on all sections of Korea. In 1953, ninety-seven percent of roads were not paved and the GDP per capita was less than USD 100. Even though ten years passed after the truce of the War in the early 1960s, the economic situation as well road condition were not quite different. The first priority of the Korean government at that time was to revitalize the nation through establishing the export-oriented economy system. To pursue this national policy efficiently in medium- and long-terms...
Structural Adjustment Policies of Korea’s Coal Industry

In the process of economic growth, some industries are declining because of losing competitiveness. It is desirable to move inefficiently-used resources of the declining industry to a more productive industry. In the case of high exit barriers existing in the declining industry, the government may execute adjustment policies. In general, adjustment policies comprise measures for re-employing laborers employed in the declining industry, disposal or transfer of facilities and revitalization of the community where the declining industry is located.

Statistics/ Key development data for Korea

Population projection

Statistics from 1960 to 2018

Population projection Statistics from 1960 to 2018
Infant mortality rate

Statistics from 2005 to 2016

Infant mortality rate Statistics from 2005 to 2016
Index of manufacturing ICT production

Statistics from 2000 to 2018

Index of manufacturing ICT production(Original index) Statistics from 1990 to 2015

Featured/ Featured Korea's development experience content

KSP/ Knowledge Sharing Program

KSP Slide Image

Capacity Building Workshops

KSP Slide Image

Consulting Program

KSP Slide Image

Impact Evaluation

KSP Slide Image

Development Cases

Events