Changes in Mass Media Use During 1981-2000 in Korea

Abstract

Korea has undergone a truly tremendous social change during the last three decades. From a semi-traditional agricultural society in the late 1960s, the country has developed into a full-fledged industrial society, and is often referred to as a "newly industrialized economy(NIE)." The change has been also remarkable in the country's political system as well as in the social and cultural settings. Economically, the GNP per capita, for example, has soared to US$ 10,076 by 1995 from a meager $ 1,597 in 1980. The figure has been somewhat reduced to $8,572 in 1999 because of the country's financial crisis in 1997. But Korea has successfully overcome the setback and was able to pay back all the loans to IMF by August 2001. Korea has shown more than 4 percentage-point growths every year since 1998 even though most of the OECD nations, during the same time period, experienced a widespread economic slump. Export in 2000 has reached to over $ 172 billion from some $ 17 billion in 1980.