Korean Economic Development

South Korea has experienced an industrial expansion since the time of the Korean War in the early 1950s, and exports were the key to that expansion. Until 1986, the value of imports was greater than exports, but this situation was reversed in that year when South Korea registered a favorable balance of trade of $4.2 billion. By 1988, the favorable balance had increased to $11.4 billion. A primary concern for economic planners was financing this gap between domestic and imported resources. In the fifties and sixties, much of the trade deficit was financed by foreign aid funds. In the last two decades, though, borrowing from and investment in international capital markets were almost completel

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t the 8 percent tariff imposed by Korea on imported passenger cars is reasonable, and indeed importers seem to believe that the tariffs imposed by Korea across the board are not excessive. What they object to are non-tariff barriers. The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea has made reference to such problems as "unenlightened working-level officials," and an "'exports good, imports bad' mindset" that serves as an obstacle to foreign investment. There has been progress, but it is painfully slow. Observers state that Korea needs to make more massive changes and to do so quickly to change the perception and reality of the foreign investment environment so that Korea can be more competitive with other countries. Korean officials and analysts, however, state that they refuse to be hurried. They believe they are opening the market at a reasonable pace, one appropriate to the conditions of the Korean economy. However, outside analysts note that the pace of reform can be as important as the change itself (Na and Newman, 1995, 56). Imports require licenses in South Korea, and for most imports, licenses are issued upon application. Imports are divided into two categories--automatic approval items and restricted items. All commod
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Some common words found in the essay are:
South Korea, Demand Plan, Savada Shaw, Exporters' Encyclopedia, Special Laws, Association Korea, South Korean, Industry Association--for, Export-Import Notice, Observers Korea, south korea, savada shaw, foreign exchange, foreign investment, savada shaw 1990, shaw 1990, restricted items, special laws, automatic approval, import rights, domestic market, exporters' encyclopedia 1995, consumption domestic counterparts, investment south korea, foreign exchange bank,
Approximate Word count = 2348
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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