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South Korea's success also stemmed from centrally-planned authoritarian regime. Park Chung Hee made it happen because only through economic success can country

South Korea's success also stemmed from centrally-planned authoritarian regime. Park Chung Hee made it happen because only through economic success can country achieve the necessary status on the world stage. But Park Chung Hee could not have done it alone. It was koreans humility and willingness to be guided that achieved this dream. For example if we compare the generation that built Korea and those from Eastern European countries there is a stark difference. Koreans believed that through hard work and capitalism and by generating wealth they will increase the living standards. In EE countries this generation despite being as uneducated as the koreans believed that the wealth "exists" and it should be distributed by the state and that they work enough in honest jobs. They never understood how wealth generation works.

klibertp 4y ago
> They never understood how wealth generation works. From your description, neither did Koreans. You say they "believed" and that they were "willing to be guided". It was exactly the same behind the Iron Curtain. People believed in the vision of their leaders and were willing to follow them along the path they wanted to take. The only difference is that the vision of communist leaders was less practical than that of similarly authoritarian but capitalist regime. The funny thing is that centrally-planed economy might have become a more practical choice now due to IT revolution. I think it will pay off to look at what happens in China in the next decade.