ABSTRACT
Ever since Johnson (1982) introduced the concept of “developmental state,” Korea’s successful state-led economic development has been studied extensively as an exemplary case. To explain Korea’s tremendous and relatively rapid economic successes, with gross national product (GNP) per capita growing annually by 7.1 percent between 1965 and 1990, many scholars (e.g., Evans 1987; Koo 1987; Amsden 1989; Woo 1991; Kim 1997) have argued that a developmental state made possible the trajectory of national economic development. Yet by and large, despite their emphasis on state economic policies, most scholars have ignored the spatial and territorial dimensions of Korea’s economic development successes.
