Political Liberalization and Economic Development in South Korea

Abstract

This paper examines how the strategy of economic growth with exclusionary politics in South Korea was undermined by the very success of its industrialization policy, It argues that the recent political liberalization of South Korea resulted from popular pressures applied to the authoritarian regime. The social force for the democratization of the authoritarian regime in South Korea is defined as mass populism rather than as class struggle. In particular, the paper focuses on the different roles of social classes in the regime transition, The working class is described to be weaker in its role in the recent democratization process, compared

to the protagonist role of university students and to the progressive elements of the middle class, Although South Korea's on-going democratization sometimes shows signs of retrogression, her dramatic movement toward democratization in 1987 and the social consensus for democratization demonstrate that participatory democracy accompanies economic development and industrialization.