ABSTRACT
Few Koreans or knowledgeable observers in the dark aftermath of the Korean War could have imagined the profound changes that have taken place in Korea since that war. The movement of social, political, and economic forces and influences has rapidly accelerated. Some of these new or strengthened elements will profoundly affect Korea's future and, indeed, the reinterpretation by Koreans of their own society. The single most profound, influential trend in Korea—which affects the whole society but which will affect the future even more strongly—has been the urbanization of the nation. Korea is an urban society, with more than 65 percent of the total population living in urban areas of over 50,000 people, and one-quarter living in the capital alone. The relatively small size of the Korean elite community effectively eliminated the possibility of differentiation among social, political, or economic centers of alternative power and their isolation.
