This book explores South Korea's phenomenal economic rise and the impact that this has had on the country's foreign policy.

How has been possible for Japan to become the fourth economic power in the world, for Indonesia to reach the eighth world position and for South Korea, a relatively small country by territory and population, to become an important technological power and a great net exporter of PCs, chips, mobile phones, ships and automobiles? This book tries to explain the different development paths of the three great Asian economies and to explore the principal causes of their periods of brilliant economic success and of crisis. The extraordinary growth of physical capital and of knowledge and the role of the State are essential to explain the phases of industrialization and of exceptionally rapid economic growth in Japan and South Korea. Two additional analytical tools are used: the concepts of the fordist-toyotist model of growth and of stockflows relations. The second concept is particularly important in order to jointly explain the phase of very rapid growth of the Japanese economy up to the end of the 1980s and the following deep structural crisis. On the other hand, the towering importance given to education and R.&D is one of the keys for the continuation of the success of the Korean economy. Indonesia has reached a period of rapid economic growth much later than Japan and South Korea, but in the 2000s it it is rapidly catching up. However, Indonesia has devoted too limited resources to the expansion of knowledge and health conditions and to the conservation of the environment, so that its model of growth, which remains heavily dependent on the exploitation of natural resources and on the activity of foreign multinationals, must be substantially revised.

This book brings together studies conducted by researchers in East Asian countries who seek to better understand the impact of China s rise and the consequent policy challenges. The expert contributors illustrate that the rise of China and its integration with the rest of the world is one of the most important developments in the global economy. Over the past thirty years or so, China s economy has grown at nearly ten percent per annum with the expansion of the modern, export-oriented industrial sector, to become the third largest economy in the world and the second largest in trade. This book reviews the economic growth of East Asian countries since the 1990s and the various impacts that the rise of China has had on these countries. In particular, it addresses policy challenges faced in coping with the rise of China and maintaining economic growth. This timely book will strongly appeal to academics and researchers focusing on East Asia and China as well as those interested in international trade, development and economic growth.

Assessments of China's importance on the world stage usually focus on a single dimension of China's increasing power, rather than on the multiple sources of China's rise, including its economic might and the continuing modernization of its military. This book offers multiple analytical perspectives—constructivist, liberal, neorealist—on the significance of the many dimensions of China's regional and global influence. Distinguished authors consider the likelihood of conflict and peaceful accommodation as China grows ever stronger. They look at the changing position of China "from the inside": How do Chinese policymakers evaluate the contemporary international order and what are the regional and global implications of that worldview? The authors also address the implications of China's increasing power for Chinese policymaking and for the foreign policies of Korea, Japan, and the United States. Contributors: Robert Art, Brandeis University; Avery Goldstein, University of Pennsylvania; G. John Ikenberry, Princeton University; Byung-Kook Kim, Korea University; Jonathan Kirshner, Cornell University; Jeffrey W. Legro, University of Virginia; Jack S. Levy, Rutgers University; Qin Yaqing, China Foreign Affairs University; Robert S. Ross, Boston College; Akio Takahara, University of Tokyo; Tang Shiping, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Wei Ling, China Foreign Affairs University; Zhu Feng, Peking University

This book provides a holistic analysis of South Korea’s strategic use of mega-events in its modern development. It examines the Summer Olympics (1988), the World Expo (1993), the FIFA World Cup (2002), and the Winter Olympics (2018) over the past 30 years of the country’s rapid growth, and across varying stages of economic and political development. It explains how mega-events helped to secure South Korea’s position on the international stage, boost nationalism, propel economic growth in export-oriented national companies, and build cities that accommodate – as well as represent – South Korea’s progress. It thereby highlights the broader implications for today’s global phenomenon of increasing reliance on mega-events as a catalyst for development, while the criticism that mega-events do more harm than good proliferates. The book is ideal for academics, policymakers, and those with an interest in mega-events and their role in the development of non-western countries.

Industrialization supported by industrial hubs has been widely associated with structural transformation and catch-up. But while the direct economic benefits of industrial hubs are significant, their value lies first and foremost in their contribution as incubators of industrialization, production and technological capability, and innovation. The Oxford Handbook of Industrial Hubs and Economic Development adopts an interdisciplinary approach to examine the conceptual underpinnings, review empirical evidence of regions and economies, and extract pertinent lessons for policy reasearchers and practitioners on the key drivers of success and failure for industrial hubs. This Handbook illustrates the diverse and complex nature of industrial hubs and shows how they promote industrialization, economic structural transformation, and technological catch-up. It explores the implications of emerging issues and trends such as environmental protection and sustainability, technological advancement, shifts in the global economy, and urbanization.

Combining sociological, historical and comparative approaches, this book examines one of the most striking aspects of South Korea, specifically the emergence of Protestant Christianity as the largest contemporary religion in the country. What is extraordinary about the religion’s “success” is that its growth has been achieved in 130 years since 1884 and that it took place in a country with a rich oriental tradition, replete with shamanism, Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. The text critically demonstrates the socio-anthropological perceptive of the Korean Peninsula, making it a great resource for scholars and students of sociology, contemporary culture, history, religion, colonialism, and geopolitics.

This volume looks at some of the issues arising from the growing interaction between Southeast Asia and Korea. Subjects examined include implications of expanding China-Korea economic relations and of Korea's economic and financial liberalization for Southeast Asia, labour-management problems in Korean firms in Southeast Asia, Southeast Asian workers in Korea, and the state of the Korean construction industry in Southeast Asia.

South Korea's economic miracle is a well-known story. However, today Korea is confronting a new set of internal and external risks, which may foreshadow the next crisis. The Korean economy has been struggling with the faltering growth momentum and the rise of unprecedented socio-economic problems over recent years well before the pandemic crisis. After abrupt downshifts to markedly slower growth in the early 2000s, economic growth has continued to decelerate. Koreans are grappling with slow income growth, all time-high household debt, high youth unemployment, inequality, and social polarization. Politics is in disarray and is incapable of directing social discourse for the common good. Rapid population aging along with the world's lowest fertility rates stokes fears of Japanification. Simultaneously, disruptive technologies and fast-changing business environment such as the rise of China clash with a range of long-standing structural problems. The contemporary challenges are radically different from those seen in the early stages of industrialization. There are multiple risks that threaten to self-perpetuate low or stagnant growth over the next decade or so, if not an outright financial crisis. Motivated by these latest developments, this book seeks to provide a timely and in-depth analysis of key current issues and foreseeable challenges of the economy, with a provocative reassessment of its future. Based on extensive new empirical works, it examines the underlying causes of the socio-economic problems. In a constructive spirit, it puts in perspective what would constitute critical elements of ideal policy solutions and the direction of the future government's role.

Against the backdrop of China’s mounting influence and North Korea’s growing nuclear capability and expanding missile arsenal, South Korea faces a set of strategic choices that will shape its economic prospects and national security. In South Korea at the Crossroads, Scott A. Snyder examines the trajectory of fifty years of South Korean foreign policy and offers predictions—and a prescription—for the future. Pairing a historical perspective with a shrewd understanding of today’s political landscape, Snyder contends that South Korea’s best strategy remains investing in a robust alliance with the United States. Snyder begins with South Korea’s effort in the 1960s to offset the risk of abandonment by the United States during the Vietnam War and the subsequent crisis in the alliance during the 1970s. A series of shifts in South Korean foreign relations followed: the “Nordpolitik” engagement with the Soviet Union and China at the end of the Cold War; Kim Dae Jung’s “Sunshine Policy,” designed to bring North Korea into the international community; “trustpolitik,” which sought to foster diplomacy with North Korea and Japan; and changes in South Korea’s relationship with the United States. Despite its rise as a leader in international financial, development, and climate-change forums, South Korea will likely still require the commitment of the United States to guarantee its security. Although China is a tempting option, Snyder argues that only the United States is both credible and capable in this role. South Korea remains vulnerable relative to other regional powers in northeast Asia despite its rising profile as a middle power, and it must balance the contradiction of desirable autonomy and necessary alliance.