ABSTRACT
South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world in the early 1960s, with its per capita income being less than U.S.$100. Poverty and underdevelopment followed by Japanese colonial rule, national division, and the Korean War were seen as its destiny. Within less than four decades, however, South Korea became a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (Oecd) by graduating from the status of developing country and emerged as one of the powerhouses of the world economy. Central to the amazing transformation was the timely adoption of an export-led industrialization that was backed up by an assertive industrial policy. The South Korean government selected strategic industrial sectors with greater forward and backward linkage effects and orchestrated their promotion through the strategic allocation of resources. Despite its temporary setbacks in the late 1970s, the big push through heavy chemical industrialization paved the way to an impressive take-off of the South Korean economy.
