...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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...PESTEE Analysis Korea Political Analysis Political factors refer to political situation of the country and the extent to which it may affect and interfere with the project. Political system of South Korea has undergone a huge transformation to become a democratic country in 1987. South Korea became a stable democracy with strong political and economic support from the US The political landscape of the country include centralization of power which the implementation of economic reforms became faster and effective so that the country was fully focused on economic development and friendly to foreign investments, especially strengthening foreign relationships with emphasis on EU. According to economic forecast, South Korea is to become the seventh largest economy in the world within next ten years. Though the fact the relationship with North Korea remain tense and uneasy, the government aims to solve this situation in better way. Since crisis in 1997, the government opened the South Korean market to foreign investors by identifying Foreign direct investment (FDI) and abolished the harmful regulations on foreigner shareholdings in domestic companies. The taxation system and particularly corporate tax in South Korea was simplified encouraged foreign investments. |Current strengths: |Current challenge |Future prospects | |Centralized power of attorney |Military violence still...
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...3.0 Political Environment and Risk The political environment is vital to monitor for any company planning to do business, especially in a foreign country. Political risks are associated with government actions which deny or restrict the right of an investor or owner. These actions include war, insurrection and political violence. They are also able to devalue the firm by creating legislation that can increase taxes and tariffs, seize their property or restrict use of his/her assets which would then reduce the value of the firm (Howell, 2014). 3.1 Political Environment and Risk in Japan Japans political environment is among the most stable in the world based upon the fact that the World Bank has ranked Japan in the top quartile in all areas of governance as can be seen in figure *INSERT FIGURE NUMBER*. Graph retrieved from Finance for Australian Exporters Graph retrieved from Finance for Australian Exporters Figure 1- Governance Indicators in Japan Sourced from Finance for Australian Exporters, 2015 Additionally, the World Bank has also rated Japan 29th out of 189 economies in ease of doing business. Australia has a major foreign trade incentive with Japan as the free trade agreement between Australia and Japan which came into effect in January 2015 allows 97% of Australian exports preferential treatment or duty free access into Japanese markets (Export Credit Agency, 2015). Japans stable political environment and Australia’s positive relationship positions...
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...After North and South Korea were divided along the 38th parallel, it has been continued for 70 years. The reunification of Korea has been controversial for decades, and the interest and expectation of unification has been growing after the reunification of Germany. As the expectation was growing, the problems that can be raised from the United Korea have been discussed (Cumings, 2010). Different political view, national economic status, and cultures between North and South Korea can cause serious problems, and it can possibly leads the United Korea to be undeveloped country. North Korea have been living in the communist political system. In North Korea, people are brainwashed in communism and restricted the basic human rights under severe monitoring system of government. Unlike North Korea, South Korea emphasizes the implementation of human dignity and support the freedom and equality by supporting the liberal democracy (Shuja, 2003). The extreme polarization of political view can cause staging a coup and even cause assimilating one to the other. The unification of Germany shows how the national unification cause a severe economic depression. The united Germany ended up mass unemployment, and the unemployment cause increasing in suicide rate (Kaiser). The critical different economic status and the cost of unification can result in economic aggravation. According to Woolf, "In then-current dollars, the estimates cover an enormous range between $400 billion and $3.6 trillion"...
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...Summary South Korea has been politically stable since becoming a democratic state. However, its relationship with North Korea continues to present a strong challenge. South Korea fell into a brief financial crisis in 1997 due to structural weakness in the banking sector, however strong economic and financial reforms quickly countered the downturn and put the country back on a growth path by the following year. With the opening up of markets after the financial crisis in 1997, the country became one of the largest technology markets in the world. As far as social issues are concerned, the country has low population growth and fertility rates, leading to an ageing population. Furthermore, the country has a highly qualified labor force, which makes it possible to both produce and commercialize advanced technologies. The country is also well equipped with extensive broadband network and telecommunication facilities. Legal procedures in the country are time consuming and complex, which makes it very difficult for foreign investors. The environmental scenario of the country is characterized by the breach of emission standards, which is reaching unreasonable limits in spite of its relatively small area and population in comparison to other countries. Republic of Korea: Country Analysis Report – In-depth PESTLE Insights © Datamonitor. This brief is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Published 06/2008 Page 11 PESTLE analysis Political analysis Overview South Korea...
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...ANALYSIS Summary South Korea has been politically stable since becoming a democratic state. However, its relationship with North Korea continues to present a strong challenge. South Korea fell into a brief financial crisis in 1997 due to structural weakness in the banking sector, however strong economic and financial reforms quickly countered the downturn and put the country back on a growth path by the following year. With the opening up of markets after the financial crisis in 1997, the country became one of the largest technology markets in the world. As far as social issues are concerned, the country has low population growth and fertility rates, leading to an ageing population. Furthermore, the country has a highly qualified labor force, which makes it possible to both produce and commercialize advanced technologies. The country is also well equipped with extensive broadband network and telecommunication facilities. Legal procedures in the country are time consuming and complex, which makes it very difficult for foreign investors. The environmental scenario of the country is characterized by the breach of emission standards, which is reaching unreasonable limits in spite of its relatively small area and population in comparison to other countries. Republic of Korea: Country Analysis Report – In-depth PESTLE Insights © Datamonitor. This brief is a licensed product and is not to be photocopied Published 06/2008 Page 11 PESTLE analysis Political analysis Overview ...
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...the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on the northern part of the peninsula and the Republic of Korea (ROK) on the south, dividing on the 38th parallel. The peninsula split up in the 1950s during the Korean War, which involved the Communist North against Democratic South Korea. As the Korean War broke out on the peninsula in 1950, the United Nations Security Council recognised North Korea’s act as an invasion. Due to the fact that North Korea ignored the United Nations’ call for a ceasefire, the United States, United Kingdom and many other nations sent forces towards the peninsula in order to defend South Korea. Although a cease fire agreement have been signed in July 1953, North and South Korea are technically still at war to this very day. Since the Korean War divided one nation, whom share the same culture, values and language, they were separated because of two enormous political ideology differences, that the leaders believed in. We can safely say the Korean War was an “Ideology War”. The North being more towards socialism / communism (left wing) and the South being a firm believer in a semi-western, democratic (right wing) ideology. There isn’t only different ideologies within the politics, but also economically and educationally are being influenced by this ideology. Often we ask ourselves whether we can see Korea as one again in the future? Is unification in the peninsula a sustainable option? Or do political leaders predict another war? What is...
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...country. Military, political and economic variables play a vital role in the success of a nation. North Korea is considered to be a powerful nation, however, the way that their government is structured greatly affects its relationships with different nations politically and economically. North Korea is one of the few communist countries in the world. Political, military and economic operational variables tie into one another and affect North Korea in both positive and negative ways. North Korea’s isolation from the rest of the world began in 1945. Under North Korean...
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...Korea had been a colony of Japan since 1910. Along with the surrender of Japan in the World War II in 1945, the colonial period that had lasted for 35 years ended. As one can imagine, Korean people were extraordinarily happy when the Japanese announced surrender, since they could eventually get rid of the harsh days – of the language deprivation that they were forced to abandon Korean and adopt Japanese, and of family members having been sent overseas to serve the Japanese in all manners including being comfort women, and so forth. However, they did not know the Liberation was the start of another catastrophic period of time. The political vacuum engaged the United States and the Soviets who then occupied the peninsula, and caused a series of aftermath including the division of the nation which so-far seems to be permanent, and the tragic Korean War which lasted for four years. This essay briefly discusses the issues that took place in the period of 1945-50, after the Japanese surrender and before the Korean War that broke out on 25th June, 1950. A multilateral trusteeship of postwar Korea was suggested by the United States to the Soviets at the end of 1943, during the World War II. And when Japan signaled the intention of unconditional surrender to the World War II on 10th August 1945, the United States proposed temporary division of Korea along the 38th parallel of latitude for political and military purposes. The Soviets were in Korea fighting Japan at the Japanese...
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...Country Paper By Irwin Anderson BMGT 392 Professor Joseph Wade September 12, 2011 This country analysis is for the beginning of a new business venture in South Korea. The business is an English private school/ tutoring center that focuses mainly on learning the language of English. The nature of this business is to bring new alternatives to learning English in South Korea. The organizational structure of this business will be mostly staffed with qualified English teachers. The overall mission statement of this business is to bring the best possible level of English language education to South Korea. This analysis will bring about the relevance of different country variables to this new business opportunity. The country variables consist of cultural environment, political and legal environment, economic environment, ethical environment, trade, investment, and foreign policy profile. Cultural Environment The cultural environment is one of the first things to consider when opening up a business in another country. Daniels mentions, “Most cultural variables are universal. Every society, for example, has its own daily routines and rules, codes or social relations, language, and the show of emotions—even concepts of luck” (Daniel, 2011). Therefore, some sort of study of the culture should be done. The Journal of Management & Marketing Research states, “Since the entry mode is crucial for the success of a new business in the overseas...
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...Economic Reform in South Korea: An Unfinished Legacy by Marcus Noland, Peterson Institute for International Economics Paper prepared for the conference "Korea as a 21st Century Power" University of Cambridge April 3-6, 2002 © Peterson Institute for International Economics Introduction Since 1997 South Korea has been on an economic and political roller coaster. Between 1997 and 1998 forecasts of annual economic growth swung from +7 percent to -7 percent, and the country elected Kim Dae-jung, former dissident, future Nobel Peace Prize winner (and University of Cambridge honoree), and avowed economic reformer, president. However President Kim's weak electoral position—he was with only a plurality of support and forced to form a governing coalition with an ideologically dissimilar conservative party—and the continuing regional nature of South Korean politics have impeded the formation of a stable political coalition in favor of reform. Today, despite the enormous political power granted to the executive under the South Korea constitution, Kim is effectively a lame duck. Constitutionally limited to a single term, he confronts a hostile national assembly controlled by the political opposition, his personal popularity has fallen below 30 percent, and his party is trailing in public opinion polls in the run-up to December's presidential elections. Yet in spite of these challenges, a hundred other countries would envy the forecast of 5 percent growth and five percent unemployment...
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...Disney-ABC Television Group, Disney Interactive -Increasing trends in overall revenues and profits -Disney holds US $ 62.497 billion of assets -Popular characters -High brand awareness among people -The Walt Disney logo is famous -Walt Disney was ranked 8th in Top 100 Global Brands 2.2 Disneyland’s Weakness - High operating cost -Frequent change in top management -The $1.8 Billion Park has only 16 attractions -Poor working conditions in factories that produce their merchandise -Large investment’s with high risk involved -Limited range of target audience mainly children, and mothers. 3.PESTEL analysis of South Korea Political Opportunity With the Government Policy of Foreign Investment, it encourages overseas firms to invest in South Korea. For example the Foreign Investment Promotion Act such as the political include “If any foreign investment over US$ 20 million is made in such tourism businesses as tourist hotels, floating hotels and international convention facility”. Also, the area can be designated as a Foreign Investment Zone. For the Foreign Currency Control, Which is include “controls in line with OECD benchmarks”,” invests under the terms of the Foreign Capital Promotion Act controls in line with OECD benchmarks, it permitted to remit a substantial portion of its profits, providing it submits an audited financial statement to its foreign exchange bank” and “Foreign companies not investing under the FCPA...
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...the U.S.A and South Korea gained economic victories, China and the U.S.S.R benefited politically. The fact that not one singular country benefited in all aspects proves that there was no outright winner in this war however. Economically speaking, the U.S.A was victorious, gaining a 10% rise in GDP following the end of the Korean War. This was due to a great amount of military expenditure and employment. Moreover, the U.S.A returned economic prosperity to Japan and successfully gained a buffer state to communism in the form of South Korea. However, we must note that there were also failures, such as the fact that total military expenditure in the war rose from 4% to 14% of their GNP for no apparent reward. While the U.S.A were obvious victors in this aspect, there were also clear losers. These were North Korea and the U.S.S.R. Russia gave North Korea $500 million dollars a year, which resulted in no advance in the spread of communism. Russia was also dependant on North Korea for a positive economic result which it didn’t get. It was a similar situation for North Korea, who had 8,700 industrial plants knocked down and 600 000 homes destroyed. With concern to human cost, it can be argued that Russia were the true victors. They sustained very few casualties in return for a much bigger reward than U.S.A or China as they gained a buffer state in North Korea and now had another communist ally in China. This, however, cannot be said for the U.S.A, China, or Korea. There were a total...
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...Why did the US become militarily involved in Korea? In June 1950, 90,000 soldiers from the communist Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th Parallel into South Korea. The most important reason for a military response from the US was the document NSC 68, which stated that they must meet communism wherever it arises. Due to this document, it was the US assumption that the invasion on South Korea was not a Civil War due to the events in Korea, and the permanent divide in 1948. However, there was also US domestic policies, and Truman’s fear of being accused of being ‘soft on communism,’ as well as the US based organisation, the UN, which was a new institution, which Truman had to support. Furthermore, containment in Europe and Asia and the threat to the balance of power in these continents prompted US retaliation, as did the threat to Japan and the US defence perimeter. NSC 68 highlights the importance of the defeat of Communism due to the threat of the ‘destruction of civilisation itself,’ and that the ‘peace of the free world’ is in peril. Due to the US assumptions that communism is evil, which is demonstrated in countries such as Czechoslovakia, where political parties and freedom of speech were banned, Hungary, where political opposition meant imprisonment, and Bulgaria, when any opposition was executed, Truman understood the importance of this document. It recommended rearmament and increase of defence, as well as ‘keeping the US public fully informed and cognizant of...
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...Comparison for political factor of USA and South Korea The formal of the government organization has the major effect on the political system, which is combination of political parties, legislative bodies, trade unions and lobby groups (Useem 2014). It is a complex system as well as who possesses the power, the government effects on the country economy and the evolved people, and ways of dealing with the unsustainable religious problems (Heywood 2012). Benefit * US’s open investment policies is none as the largest economy in the world (Cullingworth and Caves 2013). Undeniably. The US is giant power and energetically have a strong support for the free trading (Odell 2014). It is one of the freest market in the world (Caruso, Vohs et al. 2013). (Appendix 2) * Because of the solid democratic system of the United States government, it has one of the most attractive business and investment environment for FDI (Vadlamannati 2012). (Appendix 3)The United States is ranked as fourth compare 185 countries in the ease of doing business terms, since it has the most clear business regulations (Bank 2015). Moreover, USA has better FDI regulatory restrictiveness (Appendix 4). * The United States has prosperous free market with a essentially stable political system infrastructure which advantage the wealth with an opportunities for FDI (Wald and Calhoun-Brown 2014). Mainly, more freedom rising voice and answerability, fighting corruption, government efficiency, regulation excellence...
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