Monday, May 01, 2006

The progress of South Korea in last 50 years

If you think India is progressing at a very high rate, think twice. I have got the graph of how South Korea progressed in last 60 years. For a fact, South Korea is now the second richest (after Japan, ignoring HK and Singapore like countries) country in Asia, while it was only a South Asian compatriot in 50's.

I read one article on how Korea progressed between 1962 and 1989. At a first glance, I put the reasons at four dimensions :
1) Good governance, this includes strong focus in education and infrastructure.
2) Help from Japan and US
3) Focussing on technology for industrialization, like Japan
4) A few world-beater private companies

South Korea scaled 8% annually between 1962 to 1989, Per Capita GDP rose 60 times - from $87 to $4830. However, the gold rush in industrialization was not replicated in Agro sector, leaving a huge gap between the rich and poor.

I can see a clear similarity in 3 out of 4 sectors between India and Korea. I am not sure of good governance, but others I am confident. India is also growng at 8% per year for last few years. Let's hope we'll also be able to replicate the success Korea had.