Introduction

South Korea has had one of, if not the most, incredible economic development stories. Thousands of papers have been published about how they unlocked rapid growth and broke into the electronics and manufacturing industry. The goal of this project is to give a broad view narrative of South Korea’s transition from one of the poorest countries in the 1950’s during the Korean War, to today being one of the most prosperous in just 70 years. Many people do not know about my country’s rise and I want to highlight certain areas through insightful data visualizations!

*Note: I will refer to South Korea as Korea for brevity’s sake in this project.

Section 1: The Miracle on the Han

This section is focused on Korea’s “Miracle on the Han” (referring to the Han River) which was the period of unprecedented economic growth in the 1970’s and 1980’s from rapid industrialization. These decades sparked future growth that continues to this day.

Graphic 1a: The Skyrocket in Standard of Living Indicators

Two common measures of a country’s standard of living are GDP per capita (left y-axis, in blue) and life expectancy (right y-axis, in red). An average Korean in 1960 lived 53 years and made only a couple hundred dollars a year. Flash forward to 2021, when the average Korean now lives 87 years and makes $35k a year!

If this is not an economic miracle, I don’t what would qualify as one. But how exactly did this exponential growth occur?

Graphic 1b: Economic Growth under each President (Shiny app)

In this application, you can clearly see that one Korean president has raised indictors of growth over all others: President Park Chung-Hee. President Park initiated the “Miracle on the Han” through prudent industrial policy and support of export-oriented entreprenuers.

Park’s % increase in export revenue, foreign reserves, and industrial revenue during his terms is what kickstarted decades of growth and prosperity via industrial success. Although the magnitude (in $) of his increases were not as large as some of his successors, he is credited with transforming Korea from an agriculturalist to a manufacturer.

https://dan4zy.shinyapps.io/Shiny_A/

Industrialization under President Park gave Koreans better & higher paying jobs, which improved their standard of living!

Graphic 1c: Adolescent Heights

Interestingly, the economic can impact the physiological, as displayed by the change in heights of Korean boys and girls over time. From around the end of the period of rapid industrialization to recently, average height has rose in tandem with GDP per capita. As people gain more income, they can eat food in greater quantity and of greater quality. Korean food is also some of the best in the world!

Below, we observe a convergence to America’s average adolescent heights over time, showing how Koreans have become more similar to developed nations physically.

Personally, I reap the benefit of being much taller than my ancestors — although I am still shorter than the average American!

Section 2: Industry

A key element of Korea’s development story and their economy today is their powerful industrial presence. Korea is known for its huge conglomerates called “chaebols”. These include Hyundai, Daewoo, SSangyong, Lucky Goldstar (LG), and SK Hynix, but the most well-known is Samsung.

Graphic 2a: The Chaebols’ Rise

Samsung Electronics is one of the world’s largest companies, with a market cap of 516.44 trillion as of April 2024. Hyundai and LG are the second and third largest chaebols, who also wield significant influence in the economy.

In this graphic we observe a general linear trend of the three chaebols’ yearly revenues and Korea’s GDP per capita. The success of these big businesses are predictive of the country’s economic success as a whole. The sizes of the points correspond to total exports (in $) for that year. By scrolling over each point, you can see more economic data for that year.

These businesses are Korea’s stars on the global stage, competing with the best of the best companies for export dominance. The chaebol are both revered and feared in Korea: every year, thousands of Korea’s smartest minds strive to work at these firms. However, they have also come under fire for being “above the law”. The chaebol are a lesson to developing nations: big business can unlock economic growth, but be prepared for the power consequences.

Graphic 2b: Growth by Economic Sector (animated)

This animation shows how the Manufacturing, Agriculture, Industry, Service sectors have contributed to GDP (x-axis) and to Growth (y-axis) over time. The size of each point represents the revenue of the sector for that year.

There are two main takeaways from the animation: 1. Korea became less agricultural and more service & industry oriented over time, like many developed nations. 2. Industry & manufacturing drove growth, up until the 2000’s, when services began to take the reign and balloon in value.

Korea’s development thus follows a common pattern amongst OECD countries: move away from agriculture, manufacture, and use that revenue to grow the services sector. Naturally, this process moves capital from rural to urban areas.

Graphic 2c: Wealth and Population by Province (Tableau app)

The concentration of wealth and activity is incredibly stark in Korea. The provinces near Seoul (top left) are the most populous and propserous in the nation. Even the second largest city, Busan (bottom right) does not come close to Seoul in terms of population or wealth. This geographic disparity has led many Koreans to flock to the cities and abandon the countryside in search of opportunity.

Screenshot:

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/ben.kim7842/viz/TABLEAUGRAPH_17134748525200/Sheet1

Section 3: Current Issues

Despite Korea’s spectacular development, the country still faces macroeconomic instabilities and demographic issues that put its current growth trajectory at risk.

Graphic 3a: Economic Recessions

The East Asian Financial Crisis was caused in part by the malpractice of Korean banks in the 90’s. Korea experienced a brutal currency depreciation, falling stock markets, and a skyrocketing in private debt. Its debt-to-GDP ratio rose as high as 40% during the crisis. The Great Recession also caused a significant dent in the economy, although Korea as a whole had about a decade of growth to build resilience.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not pictured, but it too dropped Korean GDP per capita. Today the country is still recovring and rebuilding supply chains.

Graphic 3b: Low Fertility Rates (Shiny app)

Another current issue is Korea’s dangerously low fertility rate, which is the average number of children born to a woman in a population over her lifetime. In 2023, Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world!

Fertility rates are generally negatively correlated with economic prosperity, but Korea’s decline in children is especially unique when compared to other OECD countries in the app:

https://dan4zy.shinyapps.io/Shiny_B/

For Korea to sustain its growth, it must have a large enough youth to support the aging population!