ABSTRACT
The Korean government in 1948 through its constitution specifically guaranteed equal opportunity for education and free, compulsory education. The Education Law enacted in 1949 also stipulated compulsory education, giving all citizens the right to six years of primary education. The international literature of the 1960s generally offered two popular explanations of education's role in development. In its simplest form modernization theory posits that educated people are more modem and modem people are necessary to build and run complex, contemporary economic, political, and social institutions. The role of education in social-status attainment and intergenerational social mobility has been examined in some detail by Kim. In a study in major urban areas of employed males Kim studied the interaction of family background, school, and personal attributes. The political evolvement of contemporary Korea has not been marked with as much success as the development of the economy. Rapid economic growth did not lead easily or quickly to political democracy.
