How Has The Korean War Impacted The Republic Of South Korea?

The Korean War physically devastated the Republic of Korea, commonly known as South Korea, and psychologically scarred the lives of millions, both soldiers and civilians alike. However, the War, fought from 1950 to 1953, provided the Korean economy with an opportunity to escape from poverty and the ability to enter the international competition for markets. Retiring from the Korean War, South Korea presented per capita income of only $65, which ranked the country as the second poorest around the globe (Park, 2010). Nonetheless, the government employed a “low-cost” approach to achieve universal primary education during the 1950s through crowded classrooms and low-wage teachers, giving hope to its citizens and laying the foundation for Korea’s economic “miracle”.

Furthermore, through economic development plans during the Park Chung Hee administration, South Korea recorded unforeseen growth rates of more than 10 percent annually for three decades, starting from 1964. With per capita income of $17,175 in 2009, South Korea ranked 15th in the world and private Korean businesses, such as Samsung Electronics, were established in Fortune’s 100 global entrepreneurs. As the country reconstructed and developed its economic sector, urban migration rate, or urbanization rate, increased from 23 percent to 81 percent between 1955 and 2005. In addition, the standard of living in urban cities heightened greatly, with each household owning at least one television and one automobile on average. Due to industrialization and rise in living qualities throughout South Korea, higher percentage of the population identified as the middle class and by 2009, 66.7 percent of Koreans belonged to the class, compared to 20.5 percent in