Cut from the same cloth

Chapter 6 demonstrated that the South Korean bureaucracy worked closely with the state in formulating economic policy and in shaping Korea’s capitalist modernity. This chapter will re-examine the role of the bureaucracy in light of another prominent field of inquiry in this volume: the workings of Korea’s developmental state (see Amsden 1989; Evans 1995; Haggard 1991; Johnson 1982, 1987; Önis 1991; Wade 1990). The existing literature on this subject postulates two major arguments. The first is that the state was largely, although not completely, autonomous from society. ¹ The second central tenet follows from the first: shielded from politics, a technocratic Weberian bureaucracy designed efficient policies and pursued a national agenda of development. ² In the classic explication of the developmental state, Chalmers Johnson argued that in Japan politicians reigned while rulers ruled: “the elite bureaucracy of Japan makes most major decisions … and is the source of all major policy innovations in the system” (Johnson 1982: 20–21; see also Najita and Koschmann 1982). Along with Japan and Taiwan, during the period of high growth, Korea is often portrayed as a relatively depoliticized state which was run by austere technocrats and stern military leaders who focused on national economic development as a priority.