... And South Korea 대한민국 Introduction South Korea and Japan have had a close relationship from ancient history to the present day. Because of this reason, their economic growth and development have similarities and disparate differences. This paper will discuss some of the two countries’ major characteristics including geographic, social, and political characteristics and look at their histories and economies. Another reason that it is natural to compare them is their economic growth has mirrored one another. Both emerged from a war with its economy devastated and its infrastructure in ruins. Both countries changed with the economic climate of the time and took advantage of foreign investment in order to rebuild. Finally, both countries used their strengths to develop their economies to the point that they are world leaders in their field. Finally, both counties enjoy close political and economic relations with the United States, with each country being among our Top 10 largest trading partners. We have been a good friend to both, which has helped to stabilize relations in the regions between the two. Brief History (Since World War 2) The Korean Peninsula was occupied by Japanese forces for 35 years, from 1910 until the end of WW2 in 1945. Due to existing agreements, Japanese forces in Northern Korea surrendered to the Soviets and those in South Korea to the United States. The Korean War (1950-1953) was an attempt by communist North Korea (with China’s...
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...1. Introduction Korea and Japan have close relationship ever since their ancient histories to this day. Because of this reason, their economic growth and development have similarities but on the other hand, due to their different characteristics, they also have differences. This paper will discuss some of the two countries’ major characteristics including geographic, social, and political characteristics and look at their histories and economies. 2. Geography Korea - Korea extends about 1,000 kilometers to the south from the northeast part of the Asian continent. It consists of the Korean Peninsula and over 3,400 islands. Since 1945, as a result of the WWII, Korea has been divided into North Korea, and South Korea. The total area is 221,607 square kilometers. South Korea owns 99,237 square kilometers and 45% of the total land, while North Korea owns 122,370 square kilometers, the remaining 55%. Korea is mostly consisted of mountain range with 70 percent. The Mountains Taebaek connects the full length of the east coast. Japan - Japan has four main islands - Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku, and Kyushu - and more than 3,000 small islands cover an area of 377,727 square kilometers. These islands extend over 3,000km in total length, and it spreads about 300km in width. Japan is covered with mountains about three-fourths of the national land. Mt. Fuji divides the center of Honshu with 3,000-meter high, the main island. Japan has around 200 volcanoes, among them about 60 volcanoes...
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...REGIONAL STUDIES PAPER ON SOUTH KOREA 1. Have you ever sat back and wondered what it would be like to live in another country. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of South Korea? Most likely it will probably be the Korean War or maybe even the 1988 Olympics. You may even, some day, be stationed there. I personally experienced the country first hand through a tour between 1988 and 1989. Korea is one of our major theaters of operation so it is very important for us to understand a little about their culture and where they came from to prepare for any future missions or tours in their arena. In order to introduce us to this fascinating country we will initially talk about their rich history. We will then cover a little about the people and their culture and finally, we will discuss their economy. Now that we have a vector, let’s start by discussing South Korean history. 2. Many historical events following World War II have culminated to shape the South Korea that you and I know today. The country came into being immediately following World War II, as a result of a 1945 agreement which made the 38th parallel the boundary between them and neighboring North Korea. The new republic was proclaimed on Aug. 15 and was recognized as the legal government of Korea by the United Nations (UN) on Dec. 12, 1948. On June 25, 1950, North Korean Communist forces launched a massive surprise attack on South Korea, quickly overrunning Seoul, the capital city...
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...Economy of South Korea By Henry Graves Dr. Davis September 27, 2014 South Korea is known as one of the emerging economies of the entire world. The South Korean economy has been growing at a steady pace for the past 15 years; this is being accomplished with a dangerous situation with their northern neighbor. When the Korean War ended in 1953 by an armistice that defined the international boundaries between North and South Korea. However, these boundaries are merely a line of truce and hostilities continue between both sides as a search of a just reunification is sought by both countries, but by differing visions on the political future of the Korean peninsula. The question that must be addressed is how does South Korea continue to maintain their dominance in the economy of East Asian nations. The answer can be found by looking into the past history of Korea starting after the end of the Korean War, the present economic policies of the current government of South Korea, and what might the nation need to address in order to maintain their competitive advantage in the region. However, before I begin to look at the past history of South Korea's economy, I must state the present statistics of what has been accomplished in the country. Currently, South Korea is the fifteenth largest economy when measured by GDP and is twelfth in the purchasing power parity. The country has been experiencing economic growth starting from the 1960s until the late...
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...improvement model, the opportunities in the Asia market provide a unique untapped region. In Korea, recent political changes have opened its economy to foreign investors and businesses. Korea’s strong economic growth provides Lowe’s with the ideal situation of opening up stores before their competitors. Based on research I conducted, this assessment considers the potential of expanding Lowe’s into the Korean market. With any major investment, it is important to consider the monetary and non-monetary aspects including gaining an understanding of the culture, the ideal management approach, past and future trends, along with political roadblocks. In this paper, the following information provides a roadmap to the decision-making process. First, an assessment of the Lowe’s vision, mission, and promise are discussed and compared to the similarities and differences within Korea. Then, an analysis considers Korean trends that support the expansion of Lowe’s. Next, a culture assessment of Lowe’s base country (USA) is compared against Korea including management styles to consider for the local corporate office and stores. Lastly, a communication strategy is discussed based on the cultural assessment and offers best practices for the expansion of Lowe’s into Korea. This paper is intended to assist Lowe’s senior managers begin an assessment of expansion into the Asian market via Korea by highlighting key factors necessary for success. Company Overview Founded in 1946 and...
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...social, economic and political related. Almost of all of these events throughout the 1950’s through the 1990’s have impacted how our world is today. Throughout the past five decades and all the historical events that have taken place has had some kind of effect on the way our world is today and future events that has yet to happen. The Korean War – 1950’s During the 1950’s significant social, economic and political events had occurred. The biggest events that happen during this time were the Korean War. The Korean War began on the early morning of June 25, 1950 and ended on July 27, 1953. The two major parties of this war were North Korea and South Korea. The Korean War started because South Korea refused to hold elections based on the wants and demands of North Korea. In the early morning hours of June 25, 1950, is when North Korea started invading South...
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...That cruel reality of a country called North Korea and the one man who is the absolute leader. Declare by his son as a god with over 34,000 statues. Even after death his ideology lives on with unimaginable living conditions at the cost of unrealistic human life. That brings the unanswerable question why the entire world is sitting down and watching what's happening for the past 65 years generation after generation without even coming up for one solution or action. To answer the question we need to understand what North Korea is. It came into existence as an inhuman country with a cruel history and grim future. Korea was an independent united country for much of its history. In 1910, Japan occupied the Korean peninsula. Korea spends 35...
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...South Korea vs. the Philippines: A Paragon of Economic Development? Ruben Reyes GLS – 102-005 Professor Eijmberts April 28, 2015 A little over half a century ago, South Korea was under the colonial rule of Japan, while the Philippines was colonized by the United States. It was not until the late 1940s did both countries gain their independence. After decades of political strife, ranging from conventional war to guerrilla conflict against the United States, the Philippines gained their independence on July 4, 1946. It was when the United States signed the Treaty of Manila, annexing the Philippines, as it became an independent commonwealth (Philippine Independence). Meanwhile, approximately two and a half thousand kilometers north of the Philippines, Japanese oppression ran rampant in the Korean peninsula. It was only until, the US had dropped two atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki did Japan withdraw their troops from the peninsula, ending the Second World War. Thus, on August 13, 1948, South Korea had attained full autonomy from Japan, commemorating the end of the thirty-five year Japanese occupation, and the formation of the South Korean republic (National Liberation Day 2012). Similarly, following the liberation from colonial rule, both nations had experienced political turmoil, or economic deterioration as a result of war. Just 5 years following the liberation of Korea, the communist North invaded the South thus ensuing the Korean War and truncating into...
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...Grace Lee 105 Korea The Political Philosophy of Juche Grace Lee Introduction The political philosophy known as juche became the official autarkic state ideology of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 1972.1 Although foreign scholars often describe juche as “self-reliance,” the true meaning of the term is much more nuanced. Kim Il Sung explained: Establishing juche means, in a nutshell, being the master of revolution and reconstruction in one’s own country. This means holding fast to an independent position, rejecting dependence on others, using one’s own brains, believing in one’s own strength, displaying the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance, and thus solving one’s own problems for oneself on one’s own responsibility under all circumstances. The DPRK claims that juche is Kim Il Sung’s creative application of Marxist-Leninist principles to the modern political realities in North Korea.2 Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il have successfully wielded the juche idea as a political shibboleth to evoke a fiercely nationalistic drive for North Korean independence and to justify policies of self-reliance and self-denial in the face of famine and economic stagnation in North Korea. Kim Il Sung envisioned three specific applications of juche philosophy: political and ideological independence, especially from the Soviet Union and China; economic self-reliance and self-sufficiency; and a viable national defense system.3 This paper begins with a discussion of the three...
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...The American Experience Since 1945 The Korean War Brandy Shaw HIS/135 2/7/2016 Mary Barcroft On June 30, 1950, American troops went to South Korea to help fight the communist of North Korea. General Douglas MacArthur, selected for commander of the American UN operations, wanted to create a unified and independent Korea. North Korea had already invaded much of South Korea and the capital of Seoul. At first, the American troops were able to push North Korea back beyond the 38th parallel and victory seemed evident. Victory was far from evident because in December of 1950, China forces intervened, and regained most of South Korea. The immediate and long-term effects that this war has had, and continues to have are plenty. The fact that a resolution was never agreed upon and that negotiations went on for two years can be nerve racking. This was definitely what they call “The Forgotten War”. There are both good and bad immediate effects that the war held. One of the good effects that it had immediately was the significant rise in the economy in America. One of the reasons why the economy was so good is that consumption was large for fear of what would happen in the future. WWII had just ended and the Korean War was not near as devastating as WWII had been on the economy. Price and wage controls were put in place at that time, which was helpful to the American consumers during the war. A negative effect that this war caused was the death of over 34000 American lives...
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...WWII in East and Southeast Asia Since the beginning of civilization, humanity has always been at war. WWII, one of the most devastating wars in history, left an impact on nearly every region of the Earth. The regions of East and Southeast Asia were left devastated with poor economies, war, and pollution. These effects have caused multiple issues post WWII, some still unresolved today. Both areas have faced many trials, but people never mention them. The first changes to occur mainly took place in Southeast Asia. Due to the defeat of the Japanese Empire, these countries became independent, unless their former owner annexed them again. As a consequence of the war and a large amount of debt, the UK, France, the Netherlands, and Germany failed to fund for many of their colonies. This allowed the independence of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, but most importantly, Korea and Vietnam. Though some amount of confusion took place in most of these countries, the most notable ones include Vietnam and Korea. The...
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...the complex, shifting, and historic relations between these areas, as well as relations with other places such at the United Sates in more recent times, the history of Korea has been told in many ways and is still the subject of hot debate both inside and outside the Koreas. North and South Korea have different versions of the peninsula’s history, both of which differ in detail and perspective from histories written in China, Japan, Russia, and the USA. The following sections, which attempt to outline the history in a balanced way, are based on a variety of materials, including lectures attended in a special workshop on Korean culture at Korea University in the summer of 1997. Map of Korea The overall pattern of development in the history of the Korean peninsula is a process that begins with an unknown number of early tribal groups that populate the peninsula in prehistoric times, wandering out of Siberia and areas to the west. Over time, some of these groups form more complex societies that eventually result in early kingdoms that grow up on the peninsula; in some cases extending westwards into what is now Chinese territory. As time and events unfolded, these kingdoms were unified, though the borders and degree of unity have continued to change over time—down to today. Besides the obvious split between North and South Korea, cultural differences (including dialect, food, and local identity) exist between the various regions of the peninsula. In some cases these differences are...
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...The Foreign Exchange Market of South Korea Brief Introduction of currency Won The currency used in South Korea is the Won, (sign: ₩; code: KRW), it can be further divided in 100 jeons, the subunit. Won has been existed for thousands of years in South Korean History. After the world war two, the Korea continent was divided into North Korea and South Korea. Both of the two countries have been using won as their currencies. The foreign exchange policy of won followed a pegging method to dollars before 1980. From 1980 to 1997 South Korea had initiated a series of actions towards floating exchange rate. During the East Asian financial crisis, the won was devalued at almost half of its original value. The monetary system The monetary system is basically consisting of four major government entities; “the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE), the Bank of Korea (BOK), the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), and the Korea Customs Service (KSS)” (Korea, South-Money). The bank of Korea, according to Savada and Shaw in their country paper on South Korea, is established as the central bank of South Korea and supervised all the financial transactions of diversified financial institutions. Its major functions also includes the issuance of currency, the determination on the monetary and credit policies, the collection and record of the statistics of overall economy, and the regulation of all private banks. It also closely partners with the central government for raising funds for public...
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...Introduction South Korea’s history, strategic location, and political relations in the past and today, have created an economy which is one of the strongest in Southeast Asia. “According to the World Bank, in the last 30 years, South Korea’s economy is one of the most outstanding success stories in international development.” (Globaled, p.1). Dating from the Japanese occupation of South Korea , from 1910 thru 1946, then the division of the peninsula enforced by the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics after Japan’s unconditional surrender during WWII; the Republic of Korea (ROK) had gone throughout drastic changes in its social, economic, and political structure, but in the 1960s, under the regime of Park Chung Hee, the Korean government implemented measures to increase export and decrease the import of foreign goods and at the same time nationalized banks, and persecuted South Korean business leaders for profiting from the corruption in the South Korean government. During this period South Korea woke up to a dawn of industrial revolution that changed the economic future of the Peninsula. Park started what would take the ROK from a agricultural economy, to one of the world’s largest economies. Although the Japanese government had put in place some infrastructure to developed the Korean Peninsula during the Japanese occupation from 1890’s to 1945, these infrastructures were solely for Japan benefit. “Many economists think it...
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...South Korea Essay Korea is known as the “Land of the Morning Calm.” This expression comes from the beginning of the modern history of Korea. Koryo means “high” and “clear.” This word symbolizes the clear blue sky of Korea. The beautiful nature of Korea is expressed through this ancient name. The beginning of Korean history started from 2333 B.C. The Korean peninsular adjoins China and Japan. Korea was conquered by Japan and divided into South and North Korea at the end of World War II. The Korean War caused devastating damage to Korea. However, it should be noticed that despite frequent foreign invasions, the Korean Peninsula has been under a single government while maintaining its political independence, culture and ethnic heritage. Not that long ago, South Korea was one of Asia’s economic success stories – one of the region’s hungry “tigers” looking around for new markets to conquer. Seoul, its capital, modernized in a very rapid amount of time to accommodate the needs of business travelers and has brought the country’s colorful traditions and trademark tranquility. The unique elements of culture The population of the Korean Peninsula, sharing a common language, ethnic identity, and culture, was one of the world’s most homogeneous. Although there were significant regional differences even within the relatively small land area of South Korea, neither the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) nor South Korea had significant non-Korean ethnic minorities...
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