ECOS2025

Tutorial 6 (Week 6)


Questions are based on Week 6 lecture contents and designed to deepen our conceptual
understandings. Students are strongly advised to discuss these questions with their group members
in their designated tutorial classes. Questions marked * are designed for student (in a group) led
discussion.

*1. Why was North Korea better off than South Korea until the early 1970s? What would explain the
great divergence in living standards between the two Koreas afterwards?

2. Why was there an urgent need for a land reform after Korea gained an independence from Japan’s
colonial ruling? Who implemented the land reform?

*3. You are suggested to read the following article:
Adam Yang “The Long Road to the Korean War Armistice”, The Diplomat, Aug 9, 2018,
https://thediplomat.com/2018/08/the-long-road-to-the-korean-war-armistice/

Why did South Korea’s first president Syngman Rhee refuse to sign the Armistice Agreement with
North Korea? Imagine you were in his position. Given the circumstances, would you also have
refused to sign it? What do you think he possibly sought or obtained by not signing the agreement?
Did it affect Korea’s economic development under Park?

*4. How did Park Chung Hee break the vicious circle of the lack of savings, foreign exchanges,
technology, human capital, and ill-endowed natural resources in the 1960s and 70s? Outline the key
policies he implemented to overcome these deficiencies.

*5. Read the following article: Overholt, W.H. (2011) “Park Chung Hee’s International Legacy”, Ash
Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School.
http://ash.harvard.edu/files/parkjunghee.pdf 5. What does the ‘development dictatorship’ in Korea
tell us about the pros and cons?

*6. Can the textbook neoclassical growth model explain the growth experience of Korea? What are
the features it can and cannot explain? What would be the limitations of the model in the context of
the Korean experience? [Hint: Identify the model assumptions.]