The Growth of Korea's Economy Brought about by Sacrifices Made by Its Citizens - Essay Example

Introduction My grandfather was born in 1932, and as a young man of 18 years; he was forced to join the Korean army in 1951. He was made a military cadet at Bajae, and for a long time, he continued to practice his dreaded career until later in his life when he decided to quit the military and get some employment as a mechanical engineer. In 1972, he saw the need of starting his own business. The business he chose was trading in building materials. THESIS: To show how life was in the years during and after colonization of the people of Korea and the elements that helped the Korean economy to develop. A short history of how things were in the period 1910-1945 In 1910-1945, Korea was colonized by Japan. Changes were clearly noticed in the way the country carried out its political, social, economic endeavors. Not much was done in the business perspective of this country. The Japanese took over the Korea’s fertile lands, their buildings and businesses (Savada and Shaw 1990, 24). During this time, the country was in dire need for capital and advanced technology. Japan took up the responsibility of making sure that Korea had a good infrastructure. The Japanese were tough in their rule, and did their best to make sure that the Korean people assimilated the Japanese culture including the types of names, their kind of religion and even their national and official language. In this period, most citizens never thought of Korea’s economic development. They had lost their power and control of their own nation. They concentrated on earning for their basic needs and lived in extreme poverty. Fortunately, my great grandfather had a small store where he used to make and dye fabric which sustained him in the hard times. He was able to give his family a good life. My grandfather was advantaged to even go to Pai Chai Hak Dang, one of the expensive schools; this was rear at that time. Chai Hak Dang was the most expensive intermediate school then. Most students who were lucky to enroll into these schools dropped out because of lack of school fees. They were then employed in factories, publishing firms and in farming activities where they lived a desperate life due to the low income (Chance and Thatcher 2012). At last, the Japanese surrendered in 1945, and by 1948 the South Korean republic was formed by the democrats while the republicans formed the republic of North Korea. In 1950, South Korea was captured by North Korea. During this time, my grandfather was only 17 years old. He describes this time as the hardest that ever occurred on the Korean soil. The North Korean army and the USSR had joined hands to make life unbearable. He was scared and couldn’t stand the thought of him ever losing his family or his own life because people around him were dying every day and to the living, their hopes were destroyed because of the ongoing war and lack of basic needs. Young South Korean men were forcefully recruited into the army to fight, and my grandfather had to hide from them. It was impossible for him to look for necessities for his family. He stopped thinking about his bright future and only thought of how to survive. My grandfather’s family moved to safety in the south and on their way, they witnessed the death of many people. At this time, he was captured and joined the army forcefully at the age of 18 years. He was well educated, and this gave him the opportunity to join the cadet where he worked for ten years. Note that as from 1945, as noted by (Pike, 2011), many experienced Korean cadets came back to their country and had formed the armed forces. Under the rule of the U.S.A, the group was dissolved, and its members were taken into the defense force which comprised of 25,000 heads of soldiers. In 1945, the U.S.A. organized for an academy where the cadets were trained. The cadets were commissioned immediately they cleared their Basic English education. United States took up Korea on the 27th day of the seventh month in the year 1950 under the leadership of General McArthur. As a cadet in this organization, my grandfather in these crucial moments of his country, he fought together with others and defeated their enemies. Life was extremely difficult for my grandfather because every day he lived as if it was his last day. No day went by without uncountable people dying in battle. My grandfather met his wife in Yang Pyeong when he was in the company of others during one of their training events. She had spent most of her life in their farm house and was the most focused woman my grandfather admitted ever to have met. She was hard working and had the responsibility of maintaining harmony in the family by performing her house chores with integrity. She didn’t have so much education in accordance to the Korean culture of the woman being responsible for the household. During the war, the soldiers would gather at my grandmother’s place, and would ask for food, and they would later pay for the services they received from her. After 10 years of hard work in the army, my grandfather retired and later ventured into mechanical engineering in 1963. He carried out his engineering activities at Post Engineer, in a camp called Casey which was a U.S.A military second infantry division based in South Korea. He was also a general officer. He joined this company because he was well connected with the Korean army. This company involved itself in procuring necessities for the military, and he found the working conditions here to be much better unlike the other companies in the similar environment. Working conditions in other companies were tight as these people were expected to work six days a week and the hours were 12-16 every day. Their wages were very low, and they didn’t have any employee benefits, the level of education was considered. My grandfather enjoyed a high salary, employee benefits, few working days and reduced working hours. He stood a higher chance of being promoted despite his age, job security, casual and liberal conditions. MY GRAND FATHER’S PERSONALITY In reference to (Harold, 2008) my grandfather was a huge fan of Carnegie and surprisingly he has followed nearly all his philosophies. Everybody fancies my grandfather’s ability to maintain a smile on his face. He has always encouraged people to laugh as it is medicine for the soul and he believes that nothing can succeed without laughter. He is a man who believes in the philosophy of hard work pays. He emphasizes on teaching his grandchildren on the values of hard work rather than inheritance and as Carnegie quotes, inherited property is quickly squandered unlike the property you have worked for. I strongly agree with this statement. He strongly believes in technology and embraces it in his business empire. He is very strict with his company’s constitution and follows every word of it to the latter. (Savada & Shaw, 1990) Notes, in the 1950s, after the Korean War, the country became more dependent on foreign aid to reconstruct their collapsed economy. During Parks regime, most government parastatals were given to individuals who had been loyal during the hard times of War. It was these enterprises that grew into companies responsible for production of electronic commodities, real estates and insurance companies. These companies were known by a native name chaebol, and were responsible for the growth of the Korean economy. Some of these chaebols are known today as Hyundai, sum sang, Daewoo, lucky gold star, and the banking businesses. These companies offered good wages and working conditions to their employees in the first years of their functioning but later started to reduce these benefits. The Chaebols are currently run by family members and as noted by (Chance & Thatcher, 2012)whose annual revenues are equivalent to the country’s GDP. THE REGIME OF PARK CHUNG HEE According to (Savada & Shaw, 1990), there was a coup organized by Park Chung Hee in the year 1979 and my grandfather witnessed it. This was the crucial time that my grandfather was starting his own business where he was to trade in building materials. With Park Chung Hee’s martial law, he was able to hustle his way into the country’s top job of leading the Korean people. Park was an autocrat though he was the driving force in reviving the collapsing economy of South Korea. His deep research into how to develop his country’s economy bore fruits when he dedicated his regime on infrastructure and expressways where he made transport accessible from the interior to the capital. This really helped my grandfather in the growth of his business. Park’s decision to create a development oriented nation by encouraging his citizens also made my grandfather to be more effective in his business. My grandfather’s behavior was rooted in the traditional habits, customs and norms of the traditional times. Park encouraged people to put all idle resources into use and due to this step, this country encountered development through industrialization, and also increased investments, increased export and poverty reduction in Korea (Livesay 1999, 42). My grandfather started his business with about five employees in a single room after he quit his engineering job due to his financial crisis. He was working so hard, but was not getting what he wanted. His income was still low, and his abilities were not exploited as he wished would have wished. Parks was his main inspiration, and played an important part in my grandfather’s effort to come up with the current empire as noted above. In the beginning, my grandfather worked very closely with the technocrats who had supported the chaebols with advice but later he became so independent that he did not need them anymore. He had gained considerable experience from his journey of experience in his now flourishing business. He was sure in managing his own business without any third party interference as he gradually gained momentum in his business profits, number of employees and socio-economic position. People could now access jobs easily in his small steadily growing empire which was gaining familiarity. Technocrats were important in my grandfathers business because they informed him of other interesting business opportunities. My grandfather saw it worthy to educate his employees on new developments in the market, new technologies and how they should take advantage of such situations. One could say that the technocrats were very important in encouraging my grandfather whenever he felt like quitting during the hard times when someone is doing business. It was such efforts by the government of Korea that brought about individuals with advanced skills and desire to grow producing a workaholic nation. My grandfather had a competitive spirit. Though many people would have loved the economic and political power, my grandfather had no time for politics which would not benefit his empire. The only politics he involved himself in was his anticipation for changes in the government. 1988 was a lucky year for the steadily developing Korea because the government had an opportunity to host the annual Olympic Games. Many businesses benefited from this entire venture, and my grandfather wasn’t left behind. He was lucky to secure several tenders with most of the country’s building and contracting companies including the ROK to supply some building materials either for renovation or the actual building. He also had the opportunity to expose his business to the country and beyond by meeting different business men. This boosted his socio economic position in the business world. This period also saw him employ even more employees as he made a lot of profit. He was able to secure business links with the outside world and had an opportunity to transport some of the locally made products. He too was able to benefit from the new technologies from the outside world. My grandfather feels very lucky to have undertaken his huge step in his business because, with his contribution, Korea was mentioned to be the third largest economy in Asia and in the world wide perspective Korea took the 12th position. Due to the Olympics, Korea climbed the ladder from a developing to a developed country. He always talks about it. CONCLUSION We can say that the growth of Korea’s economy was brought about by sacrifices made by its citizens including people like my grandfather who decided to beat the odds by first of all, fighting for his nation with integrity, and working against all challenges to reach his goals of success. The government too has played a big role in the success of its citizens especially during the rule of president Parks. The Korean people also have a tendency of unity. I saw this in my grandfather every time he was in is empire. He would spend most of his time advising his employees, educating them through seminars, though sometimes he had a bad temper. He was willing to go through difficult moment of the economy together with other entrepreneurs. My grandfather’s employees are workaholics. They would work for 18 hours every day of the week and 16 hours on Saturdays. This is because the culture was cultivated in 1950s when people were poor and wanted to get out of their devastating situations to develop economically. “I can’t believe I now live so comfortably in my country. Who would have thought that Korea would be this far, and I would own so much” is what you will hear from him every time he gives us advice about hard work. I am confident that I will be successful in my career and follow my grandfather’s shoes. References Chance, David, and Thatcher, Jonathan. 2012. Analysis: South Koreas unloved chaebol. http://www.cnbc.com/id/46960675/Analysis_South_Korea_s_unloved_chaebol (Accessed April 2012) Harold, Livesay. 1999. Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big Business. New York: Longman. Global Security. ROK Army History. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/rok/army-history.htm (Accessed April 2012) Savada, Andrea, & Shaw, William. 1990. South Korea: A country study. Washington: Library of congress. Read More