POLS 459 Politics of East Asia

1. POLS 459 Politics of East Asia The Late Developers: South Korea and Taiwan October 24, 2007 Timothy C. Lim, Ph.D. California State University, Los Angeles Contact: tclim@calstatela.edu

2. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Getting Started … How should we answer the question, “Where Do High Growth Political Economies Come From?”• Which of the following statements best reflects Kohli’s basic argument? In East Asia, they come solely from the actions of disciplined, highly competent bureaucrats Most significantly, they come mostly from the actions of enterprising individuals seizing present opportunities In an important sense, they come from historical influences, practices and patterns

3. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan “We turn to history and only to history if what we are seeking are the actual causes, sources, and conditions of overt changes of patterns and structures in society” ~ Robert Nisbet

4. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Understanding the Importance of History History is important insofar as we can find meaningful and significant continuities that link the past to the present In Korea, one of the most important of these continuities is the link between two historical periods, the ____________ and the ________________ Just knowing a link exists, of course, is not enough. We must also know, with as much precision as possible, its impact on concrete institu- tions, organizations, and practices colonial postcolonial

5. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Understanding the Importance of History A Caveat! History is not destiny Continuities do not have inevitable results; in fact, continuities are often multiple, competing and contradictory Historical legacies also may find “new expressions” in different political, social and economic contexts: consider the postcolonial development of North and South Korea …

6. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Understanding the Importance of History Stalinist dictatorship; weak, socialist economy; frequent famines; anemic civil society Authoritarian system (up to 1987); strong, capitalist economy (after 1961); dynamic civil society

7. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development One more caveat before we proceed … In thinking about the the importance of history, keep the metaphor of historicalroots firmly in mind: Like roots, history cannot be ignored History is often hidden, but is always there

8. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Basic Argument Japanese colonial influence on Korea, between 1905 and 1945, was decisive in shaping a political economy that later evolved into the high-growth South Korean path to development In this respect, it is crucial to understand that Japanese colonialism was very different from the colonialism of European powers

9. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Some Questions … What was unique about Japanese colonialism? What significant, long-lasting changes did Japanese colonialism bring to Korea? Why are these changes relevant to under-standing postcolonial economic development? DISCUSS

10. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Important Changes: Destruction of the old, “predatory” state The Yi Dynasty ruled Koreafor 500 years; despitestability and centralization,dynasty was weak, corrupt,and unable to respond toserious challenges; it wasalso a “predatory” regime, taxing its poorest subjectsbut providing little in return A portrait of the Yi Dynasty, early 20th century

11. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Important Changes: Destruction of the old, “predatory” state A pervasive problem in many traditional societies is the power of the landed class, or the landed aristocracy: in 19th century Korea, this class was known as the Yangban Japanese colonialism did not destroy theYangban, but it did redefine their relationship to the state and the rest of Korean society: in particular, the Japanese shifted the balance of powerfirmly to the side of the state

12. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Question Why does a powerful land owning class generally act as an obstacleto capitalist and industrial development, not just in Korea but in developing countries throughout the world?

13. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Important Changes: Creation of “Strong State” In place of Korea’s weak and ineffective state, Japan created a highly centralized, highly bureaucratized, highly repressive, but also extraordinarily effective colonial state Unlike European colonial states, moreover, the Japanese colonial state was focused not just on control and extraction (of resources), but on the economic transformation of colonies to help the “motherland” catch up with the West as quickly as possible A key architect of the colonial transformation of Korea was Ito Hirobumi, a leader of the Meiji Revolution. He was later assassinated by a Korean nationalist in 1909

14. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Important Changes: Creation of New State “Ito and his successors set out to deliberately construct anew Japanese-controlled Korean state….Havingcaptured the heart of the state, the colonial rulerssought to systematically create a depersonalized“public arena,” to spread their power wide anddeep, and to coopt and/or repress nativeKorean political forces.” They succeeded with a vengeance.

15. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Important Changes: The New Civil Service A critical, but often overlooked aspect of colonial rule is the imposition of a new civil service. This happened in all colonies, but in Korea’s case, “the Japanese colonial project was qualitatively distinct, both the extent and the intensity of bureaucratic penetration was unique”

16. 87,552 The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Important Changes: The New Civil Service One area in which the uniqueness of Japan’s colonialpolicies, especially regarding the civil service, was differentcan be found in the sheer number of officials hired torun the Korean colony In 1910, there were 10,000 officials (not including police or soldiers) in the Japanese-Korean government … But, by 1937, there were at least 87,552! Significantly, of this number, at least 40,000Koreans qualified as government officials before WWII 10,000

17. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Important Changes: The New Civil Service The sheer numbers of bureaucratsallowed the state to have a presencein much of the country: from the center, to the outlying regions,much like an octopus … The colonial government, move-over, buttressed these numbers with other effective means of control,including a large, very extensive policepresence (which grew from 6,222 in 1910to over 60,000 by 1941) 60,000 6,222

18. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Summing Up Thus Far … “In sum, the personalized and factionalized Yi state with a limited reach in society came to be replaced by a colonial state with a considerable capacity to penetrate and control the society; this state was simultaneously oppressive and efficacious. A highly centralized apex with near absolute powers of legislation and execution--and thus of setting and implementing ‘national’ goals-- and a pervasive, disciplined civil and police bureaucracies constituted the cores of the new state.”

19. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development Other Critical Changes Colonial state forged new alliances with indigenous economic classes in Korea: these were unbalanced, but still mutually beneficial alliances Japanese exploited, but also invested in Korea, especially in infrastructure (e.g., railways, communications) and in education The colonial state reorganized agricultural production, promoted industrialization in “strategic industries,” and also encouraged a heavy export orientation 1 2 3

20. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Roots of Korean Development State-Business Relations One particularly salient aspect of Japanese rule was the unique nature of state-business relations, which had many lasting implications … Emergence of large-scale business enterprises: largely a product of (1) an industrial policy that provided subsidies and protection to a select group of entrepreneurs, and (2) the nature of the Japanese industrial project Deep integration of Korean and Japanese economies Instituted rigid framework in which the state and capital worked together to control labor for the purpose of rapid economic transformation

21. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Continuities “If Korea at the turn of the 20th century was a mini-China, by mid-century, Japanese colonialism had transformed it into a mini-Japan.” “Japan” Korea“mini-Japan” One way to picture the overall legacy of Japanese colonialism to consider Korea at c. 1940 to be a “mini-version” of Japan. What does this suggest about Korea’s subsequent development?

22. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Continuities The historical legacies of Japanese rule, to repeat an earlier warning, did not necessarily or inevitably lead to an era of high speed economic growth. But even in a comparison of North and South Korea, the importance of these legacies is clear … Consider the path taken by North Korea. What made it possible to build a tightly disciplined, rigid Stalinist regime so quickly following liberation?

23. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Continuities In South Korea, the ultimate direction of the country was not set until ___________________ took power Not coincidentally, Park was a product of the Japanese colonial army: he was trained by the Japanese in a military academy in Manchuria In addition, we was a self-avowed “Japanophile” and fascinated by the “Meiji Model” Park Chung-Hee

24. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Continuities While the personal background and skills of Park were no doubt important, it is more important to remember that Park emerged and acted within an institutional, historical and social context already clearly defined by the Japanese In this sense, we can argue that Park’s choices were limited: he had three basic roads to follow … Revolutionary Communism Corrupt Autocracy Developmental State

25. The Late Developers:South Korea and Taiwan Historical Continuities Once the road toward the developmental state was chosen, Park had all the tools, all the relationships, the entire framework he needed to achieve rapid economic growth In this regard, South Korea was far, far ahead of many other poor countries of the time: the country may have had the same per capita income as Ghana or the Philippines, but it had a foundation for capitalist development that those, and other poor countries, utterly lacked Developmental State