ABSTRACT
Between 1962 and 1986, South Korea advanced from being the ninety-ninth to becoming the forty-fourth richest country on earth in terms of per capita income. The heart of the matter is an accurate understanding of the sociopolitical forces that have fostered Korea's high-speed economic growth. The security threat was important to South Korean development because it kept the military focused on economic growth rather than on self-enrichment, as in so many other military regimes. The Korean state therefore should develop policies that promote industrial investment within Koreas national boundaries, thereby ensuring continuing demand for domestic labor. Such policies will also bolster the states legitimacy as the indispensable agent of all Koreans. The emphasis in Korea's institutional structure for the immediate future should be on developing corporatism in preparation for eventual democracy, gradualism in all reforms, an external orientation in order to provide early warning of global changes, and investment in human capital.
