Structural Change of Non-farm Sector and Stages of Economic Development in the Rural Region of Korea

Abstract

The rural area of Korea is characterized by traditional' agricultural sector in economic structure similarly with another developing countries and the initial stage of developed countries. Although agriculture is a absolutely necessary industry for human survival, agricultural area falls behind others in economic development because of the intrinsic attribute of low productivity of agriculture. Comparing to the urban area where manufacturing and tertiary sector is more developed, rural area stays at a stagnant stage of development. Therefore, inter-regional economic as well as social disparity becomes severe. In order to stimulate development of rural area from stagnation, the Saemaul Movement and rural industrialization policy were implemented from the beginning of the 1970's. Although income level was raised and living conditions were improved in rural area, it was not easy for urban-rural disparity to be reduced because of natural and human constraints in rural area. In the 1980's, the present government has tried for rural development by various strategies such as introduction of manufacturing firms into rural area, development of tourist industry and inc~easement of agricultural productivity. At this moment, it is certainly very worthwhile to take a study on rural non-farm sector. This study will contribute to identify economic and industrial structure of rural area and to build desirable policy/strategy for the future rural development. In such context, this study will be accomplished with such main objectives as a clarification of the role of rural non-farm sector in economic growth, an analysis of structure of the sector in a time series, and a formulation of the effective policy/strategic measures.