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BACKGROUND

... THEY HATED...

THE RESULT OF THE

WORLD WAR II.

RESULT?

... EACH OTHER...

THIS WAS WHAT KOREA LOOKED LIKE....

.....RIGHT AFTER KOREAN WAR.

HOW TERRIBLE IT WAS!

... BUT IT DIDN'T FALL APART..

WOW!

AMAZING.

RIGHT?

ALSO,

THERE'S SOMETHING MORE...

ARTICLE SUMMARY

Thirty years ago, Korea was poorer than Malaysia and Mexico.

But, it was an open question whether its success could continue.

- Over the past decade, however, Korea has reinvented itself – it’s an Asian miracle again.

Korea has become an innovator, an economy that doesn’t just make stuff.

But designs and develops products, infuses with them with the latest technology, and then brands and markets them worldwide, with style and smarts.

Politically as well, Korea is stepping out of Washington’s shadow and becoming an

influential voice in its right. This nation is a global leader-in-waiting.

- Koreans have become more accepting of diversity and outside influences and quicker

to shed old prejudices.

A Stranger No More

Globalization has always been the engine behind Korea’s economic miracle. Yet to Koreans,

globalization was a one-way street. Koreans didn’t care much for foreign cars, foreign investment

– or foreigners.

Companies were shielded from competition and heavily supported by tight links to the government

and banks, allowing them to borrow and invest willy-nilly while building up frightening debt burdens. 

Late 1990s, as Korea’s most prominent companies collapsed into bankruptcy, Koreans had to rethink

the ways they did business, managed their careers – even their entire economic system.

The 1997 crisis broke apart the cozy government-banking-corporate networks, forcing the big

companies to become truly profitable, independent and internationally competitive for the first time.

That reality altered Korea Inc.‘s view of the world, and made its companies fiercer competitors. 

Breaking Down Barriers

- Most women were relegated to minor tasks and expected to quit after they got married.

For those bold enough to stay on, Korean corporate culture made it almost impossible for

them to get ahead.

“Korean companies look at their employees by what they can bring to the table”, “As the

global market becomes fierce, the focus has been on maintaining talent rather than the old

discrimination.”

- Koreans have become much more accepting of different life choices.

That’s encouraged an army of young people to start their own companies, often in innovative

IT or high-tech businesses.

Cry Freedom

Korea was largely ruled by dictators for 26 years, until massive street protests forced free elections in

1987, and even after that, the government still intervened heavily in the economy.

Korea has become a much more democratic society over the past decade, and the market-oriented

economic reform made necessary by the 1997 financial crisis.

“The economy of a country is very reflective of the politics of the country.”

Aside from some fast-food joints and wallet-straining restaurants at five-star hotels,

foreign cuisine was hard to come by.

aside from : except for

wallet-straining : thinning one's purse -> EXPENSIVE

come by : obtain, acquire, gain

Empty taxis would ignore my frantic hails, while locals sometimes swore at me while I walked in Seoul

with my Korean-American girlfriend(now wife). Behind its crenellated walls, the Korean

economy developed on its own dynamic, and boosted by their unexpected economic sucecess, Koreans

came to believe their system was special, even superior.

frantic : enthusiastic. Really like!

hails : wave hand to get a taxi

swore : curse -> bad words.

crenellated : a hole drilled into the wall to shoot hidden

OPINION?