5 ms·

this is just like the fusion of monopolists and military lineage in South Korea in the 60s up until early 90s. They marry each other, one group controls violenc

by spxneo 3y ago

this is just like the fusion of monopolists and military lineage in South Korea in the 60s up until early 90s. They marry each other, one group controls violence, the other group controls market and produces stuff the West wants which in turn looks away from the violence. It was never about democracy but control.

alephnerd 3y ago
EXACTLY!!!!!! This is why Korean boomers love investing and living in Vietnam. It's literally how Korea used to feel in the 1970-80s. The entire economy in VN is basically owned by Korean Chaebols like Lotte after they were kicked out of China in 2015-17 due to a trade war. It's 60-40 Chaebols-Local Oligarchs And the VCP is fairly worried that a 1980s SK or 1990s PRC style democracy movement might arise, because unlike China today, the Vietnamese government is very incompetent and pays their civil servants shit ($200/mo for senior govt doctors for example, $600/mo for the head of the Politburo, most soldiers are abused and unpaid conscripts), and western services like FB cannot be cracked down because it will scare western investors away and because most of the country is still dependent on the remittences of the 2nd-3rd gen diaspora living in North America and Eastern Europe, and the migrant workers in JP/SK/TW/CN. There's a reason why KDramas are so popular in VN. It isn't just because of Hallyu wave (though that plays a role too) but also because the exact same kind of problems and mentality that Koreans have going from third world to first world are faced by Vietnamese as well. Vietnam is at the same position as Korea was in the 1970s-80s essentially.
- spxneo 3y ago
  We come full circle. South Korean chaebols got rich off Vietnam War (korean marine mercenaries for US) and now they get rich off capitalizing Vietnam. I see lot of Korean-Vietnamese couples/biracial children as well. Crazy how much sway a small group of people have (in both countries).
  - huac 3y ago
    > Over the nine-year period of South Korean troop commitments to Vietnam, 40% of the country's overall export earnings during this period came from the money combat personnel were paid, making an average of $200 million each year. > The total cost to the United States of paying for Korean participation was "peanuts compared to what it would be for a comparable number of Americans," but those payments are estimated to account for 4 percent of the GNP in 1967 and totalling more than one billion dollars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea_in_the_Vietnam_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea_in_the_Vietnam_War -- I did not know this!
selimthegrim 3y ago
Well, supposedly they borrowed Pakistan’s five-year plan around then, so it makes sense
- spxneo 3y ago
  The 5 year economic model was created in Manchukuo which existed decades before Pakistan. Pakistan did not come up with it they executed it rather very poorly.
  - alephnerd 3y ago
    In OP's defense, Pakistan and SK were economic peers until the early 1980s. Ayub Khan and Park Gyun-He weren't all that different.

by spxneo 3y ago

alephnerd 3y ago

EXACTLY!!!!!! This is why Korean boomers love investing and living in Vietnam. It's literally how Korea used to feel in the 1970-80s. The entire economy in VN is basically owned by Korean Chaebols like Lotte after they were kicked out of China in 2015-17 due to a trade war. It's 60-40 Chaebols-Local Oligarchs And the VCP is fairly worried that a 1980s SK or 1990s PRC style democracy movement might arise, because unlike China today, the Vietnamese government is very incompetent and pays their civil servants shit ($200/mo for senior govt doctors for example, $600/mo for the head of the Politburo, most soldiers are abused and unpaid conscripts), and western services like FB cannot be cracked down because it will scare western investors away and because most of the country is still dependent on the remittences of the 2nd-3rd gen diaspora living in North America and Eastern Europe, and the migrant workers in JP/SK/TW/CN. There's a reason why KDramas are so popular in VN. It isn't just because of Hallyu wave (though that plays a role too) but also because the exact same kind of problems and mentality that Koreans have going from third world to first world are faced by Vietnamese as well. Vietnam is at the same position as Korea was in the 1970s-80s essentially.

spxneo 3y ago
We come full circle. South Korean chaebols got rich off Vietnam War (korean marine mercenaries for US) and now they get rich off capitalizing Vietnam. I see lot of Korean-Vietnamese couples/biracial children as well. Crazy how much sway a small group of people have (in both countries).
- huac 3y ago
  > Over the nine-year period of South Korean troop commitments to Vietnam, 40% of the country's overall export earnings during this period came from the money combat personnel were paid, making an average of $200 million each year. > The total cost to the United States of paying for Korean participation was "peanuts compared to what it would be for a comparable number of Americans," but those payments are estimated to account for 4 percent of the GNP in 1967 and totalling more than one billion dollars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea_in_the_Vietnam_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea_in_the_Vietnam_War -- I did not know this!

selimthegrim 3y ago

Well, supposedly they borrowed Pakistan’s five-year plan around then, so it makes sense

spxneo 3y ago
The 5 year economic model was created in Manchukuo which existed decades before Pakistan. Pakistan did not come up with it they executed it rather very poorly.
- alephnerd 3y ago
  In OP's defense, Pakistan and SK were economic peers until the early 1980s. Ayub Khan and Park Gyun-He weren't all that different.