Driving force

Driving force (추진력, 발전의 원동력) means a factor or factors in sociology not in physics to improve a situation or organization to a certain desirable level. For the purpose of this article, South Korea is an example to illustrate the driving forces to transform the country to a showcase of industrialization and democratization.

Take an example of data protection. There have been two driving forces in contrast which characterize modern Korea – "Growth" for industrialization and "Equality" for democratization, amounting to free flow of personal data and top-priority protection of privacy. They are visible virtues in addition to the traditional characteristics, “Hermit Kingdom”.

Key words
modern history, industrialization, efficiency, democratization, freedom, equality

Enigmas of Korean Modern History
Outsiders are qurious what has transform Korea from a Japanese colony, and then a country devastated by the Korean War into a developed nation which exports the World-Best products including K-pop music (Hallyu)?

Conflict between Liberty and Security
With the end of the Japanese occupation (1910–45), South Korea adopted liberal democratic ideas. But the Korean War broke out in 1950 and divided the Korean peninsula. After a brief and tumultuous democratic interlude in the early 1960s, Korea’s politics were dominated by a series of military strongmen. This authoritarian period nevertheless had a silver lining of rapid economic development.

From the late 1960s until the 1980s, North Korea staged occasional terrorist attacks against South Korea. In January 1968, North Korean guerrillas infiltrated to the outskirts of the Blue House, the Presidential residence in Seoul. A few days later the Pueblo, an intelligence ship of the US Navy, and all its crew, were seized by North Korean patrol ships in international waters. The North Korean regime continued to terrorize their South Korean brethren by hijacking a private airplane in 1969, and directing a Japanese agent to assassinate President Park Chung-Hee and First Lady in 1975. In 1983, they attempted to kill President Chun Doo-Hwan on his state visit to Myanmar. In 1987, North Korean terrorists destroyed a Korean airplane with 115 passengers and crew flying over the Indian Ocean to stymie the Seoul Olympic Games.

Perhaps Korea’s threatening geopolitical reality justified some restriction of fundamental rights for the sake of national security. However, the restriction of freedom went too far. Throughout the 1970s, President Park proclaimed a series of Emergency Presidential Decrees to restrict fundamental rights ostensibly to protect the state from the North Korean threat. But, in a real sense, President Park’s political action was oriented to continue his dictatorship.

Struggle for Democratization
Mounting demand for democracy protection generated pressure on the Korean government to respect the constitutional rights. In 1987, the democratic movement, known as the ‘June Struggle’, changed the political landscape. It made the authoritarian regime comply with citizens’ constitutional rights. Confronted with student protests against the iron fist rule of President Chun, the general-turned President allowed a broad liberalization.. The international environment was a crucial factor in his decision to democratize the nation.

Meanwhile, military tension between North and South eased in the midst of East-West rapprochement. The 1988 Seoul Olympiad focused the international spotlight on the daily life of ordinary Koreans. Rights of Korean dissidents attracted worldwide attention. In 1996, Korea was admitted to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). To secure admission, South Korea promised to observe human rights. At that time, its per capita income exceeded $10,000. In the wake of the rising prosperity of the late 1980s, human rights issues came to the foreground of public opinion.

In terms of privacy issue, the advent of the Information Age has opened a new dimension of privacy issues. The information highway has made it possible for the government to implement far-reaching e-Government projects. For example, the government planned to consolidate relevant information in the public sector, and to provide on-line administrative services to citizens. At the same time, popular curiosity has found all sort of new outlets, including celebrity scandals now detailed over the internet

Exemplary cases
Korean modern history illustrates how Korean people have overcome a series of crises taking advantage of unprecedented driving forces - timely, or sometimes staggering, pursuit of efficiency and equality in a big picture.

The first case was the establishment of the world class think tank, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in 1965, which was realized by the United States grant of 10 million dollars in exchange for Korea's dispatch of infantry divisions to the Viet Nam.

The second case was vividly shown when President Park Chung-hee embarked on a series of economic development plans. Contrary to fierce opposition from the public, Park decided to invest most the colonial damages from Japan in the construction of Korea's first iron and steel mill at Pohang in the early 1970s. In principle, such compensation money had to be distributed to the ordinary citizens who had been victimized during the Japanese occupation. But the steel mill has grown to the world best integrated iron and steel maker, POSCO.

The third case was two times oil shock-turned bonaza in the Middle East. Even thought Korean economy was almost struck down by skyrocketing oil prices in the 1970s, Korean contractors including Hyundai found their paths in the Middle East desert. The Jubail industrial port project was the first in the long list of the Korean success story in the overseas construction markets.

The fourth case was the IMF Crisis in the late 1990s, when Korean people paid heavily for not knowing the real meaning of globalization and global standards. But now Korea finds itself to teach what it had learned from the past experiences.

The fifth case is the entrepreneurship as demonstrated by a number of Korean businessmen and illustrated by Peter Drucker in his book. Someone cites "Asian values" based on Confucianism for the driving force, but others explain such spirit derives from the common belief.

However, the impending risk might be North Korea, and the result remains to be seen in the near future. Koreans are sure they can survive the next crisis successfully.

From an ODA Receiver to a Donor Country
Another example is ODA, official development assistance. Recently the Korean government is increasingly required to provide more ODA to less developed countries in proportion to its economic growth. At the end of 2009, Korea was admitted to the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) under the OECD.

It was remarkable for Korea to shift from an ODA receiver to a donor country within several decades. What makes such transformation possible in a short period of time? It was possible by the following factors, to name a few:
 * Strong leadership to economize;
 * Unparalleled entrepreneurship as witnessed by Chung Ju-yung and Lee Byung-chull;
 * Ordinary people's "Can Do" spirit;
 * High level of intangible infrastructure such as education, legal system, etc.; and
 * A series of success stories by Korean pioneers in various fields.