Park Chung Hee and the Japanese Economic Model

Class discussions today momentarily focused on the Japanese economic model of development, and it is said that apart from South Korea, the model is hardly copied elsewhere in Asia.

And because of that, my mind got side-tracked to South Korea. (As usual)

Former Korean President Park Chung Hee clearly admired the Japanese economic model of development, and wanted badly for South Korea to catch up with its neighbor. His affection or otherwise for Japan is unclear, even debatable, though it was just last year or the year before, that he was named a prominent "Japanese collaborator," which was clearly a blow for her daughter Park Geun-hye, currently head of the opposition Grand National Party.

Apparently, in order to rapidly develop South Korea in the 1960s, Park kept two sets of economic data under his desk - one of Japan, the other Korea - primarily to remind himself of the huge economic gap that still divided the two, as well as to spur him on to seek further development for his country.

Japanese collaborator or not, he was certainly credited for the country's subsequent phenomenal development. And also for being corruption-free.