Contents

Introduction 5

Ⅰ. The Korea Paradox 21
Paradox of Impossible Tasks 21
A New Narrative 27
Paradox, Mother of All Miracles 30
Dignified Poverty and the Ultimate Paradox 36
The New Religion of Materialism 40
Constant Threat, Blessing in Disguise 45

The Groundworks

Ⅱ. Obsession with Education 53
Mandatory Education, First Step to Prosperity 53
Unusual Hunger for Education 58
Origin of Higher Education in Korea 61
All Brains are Created Equal 64
Private Sector Education Market 66

Ⅲ. For Whom the Economy Grows 72
Development Makes People Expensive 72
Asset Values and Value of the People 76
Evaporated Landed Class 87
Evaporated National Capital 90

Ⅳ. Indefensible Country 95
Importance of Korea, Two Opposing Views 95
US Korea Military Alliance and Korean Insecurity 99
Defense of South Korea as a Factor of Economic Growth 104

Ⅴ. The Story of Taking Off 110
From Chaos to Take-Off 110
Reluctant Entrepreneurs 116
Import Substitution is Market Augmenting 126
Changes in Farm Sector 130

Unique Trajectory
Ⅵ. The Road Where Others Should Not Tread 137
Heavy, Mechanical, Petrochemical and Electronic (HMPE) Industries 137
Blind Courage or Timely Wisdom 144
Seed for New Industrial Ambition 151
The Case of Semiconductor 156
Dismantling an Authoritarian Governance 159
Spit on My Tomb 161
Sad Experience of Defense Industry 167

Ⅶ. Unique Trajectory of the Lonely Dragon 172
Industrial Migration and Wages 172
Four Asian Dragons and China 176
Thorn Bush for Direct Investment 180
Economic Development by Borrowing 187
Unique Corporate Financing Strategy 191
Over Borrowing and Adjustment 195

Ⅷ. Technology Nationalism 200
Japan’s Lost 30 Years 200
Improvement versus Innovation 206
History of Catching UP by Technology Nationalism 211
Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer 216
The Korean Model of Technology Nationalism 220
History of Government-Funded Research 230
Slow Birth of a System 237
The Korean Research Farm 244

Ⅸ. The Cancer in the Korean Economy 250
The Good China, Taiwan 250
Does Korean Development Model Need Jaebol? 253
Small and Medium Industry of Taiwan 261
Metastasis of the Korean Economic Cancer 265
Big is Beautiful 269
Fate or Strategy 274
None But the Best Deserves to Survive 278

Appendix: Inside the Taiwan Miracle 293

Ⅹ. Economic Development and Human Value 300
People Values Differ by Countries 300
Turning People into Scarce Resources 304
Urban Redevelopment Projects with No Budget 307
The Winners 317

Is Korea Going Anywhere?

ⅩI. Koreans Think We Just Began 329
An Effective Skeleton for Nation Building 329
Democracy and the Korean Development 337
Change of Government and Economic Growth 344
Role of Morality in Development 350
Porcupine Theory of National Defense 356

Appendix
Is there an Advanced Country Stagnation
Syndrome? 367
The American Exceptionalism in Industrial Growth 373

ⅩII. Opportunities for Korea 381
Changes in New International Relations 381
Do not Predict the Future, Make it 384
Green Energy Initiatives 386
Making Future by Fusing Industries 390

Appendix
A Theory of Trinity in National Development 397

Epilogue 407