A Comparison between China and South Korea - Essay Example

Module A Socioeconomic and Political Comparison between China and South Korea Focus: China vs. South Korea Aspect: Socioeconomic Issue Purpose and Significance This paper focuses on the socioeconomic and political situations in China and South Korea; comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between the two. Specifically, the primary objective is to establish the underlying factors that have boosted or hindered (contingent to each) the economic prosperity of the two nations. The assumption is that the social and political situation in a country extensively influences the economic activities and thus the GDP (Tyers 166-167).

This research will help to determine the nature of factors contributing to the economic development. Brief Description According to Anders (99), the economic prosperity of a nation is evident when among other factors, its GDP is relatively higher, and the standard of living in that particular country is measurably enhanced. China, a country that ranks second economically after the United States, has been on a radical socioeconomic transformation thanks to its social and political policies that have evidently favored much of its success.

South Korea, similarly, has hit the headlines with robust prosperity-oriented strategies that were designed to drive its short and long-term development goals. The differences and similarities are quite salient and deeply harrowing them would account for why the two nations exist on their respective edges. Justification for the Focus on Socioeconomic Issue While the GDP of a country may be casually attributed to the hardworking and obedient citizens, there is so much to it than what is merely understood (Ramirez 228).

China, for example, with an extremely high population needs interplay of a myriad of factors to develop and sustain its economic growth trajectory. There is a direct relationship between the socioeconomic organization and prosperity of a nation and its development (Mazerolle 307). Focusing on this issue, therefore, illuminates the whole image of that which constitutes a nation’s development strategy. Empirically, it is made possible to know why South Korea or China is/or is not succeeding in its economic endeavors.

Differences and Similarities (Preliminary) It is noticeable that China is the second largest economy in the world while South Korea is fifteenth. China is a socialist state with much of its success emanating from social policies that have supported its growth and development. South Korea, contrastingly, has sought to maintain the traditional family system that has arguably delayed its economic progress. Consequently, South Korea differs with China in the sense that it has adopted a nationwide socioeconomic system that binds every citizen (Law and Kim 988).

The similarities are outstretched as both countries practice the Confucian system that has undoubtedly unified the nations in the quest for common economic goals. Moreover, the Olympic Games and other worldwide games that have been hosted by the two nations have bolstered their economic agendas making them the financial giants they are today. Last but not least, the successful family planning programs have ensured the two nations regulate their populations to limits they can support (Ramirez 228).

Research Questions 1. Are China and South Korea’s economic successes a result of the deep Confucian system? Yes. 2. Has the move to control population bore fruit in sustaining economic development in China and South Korea? Yes. 3. Has China’s embracement of Socialism won it an advantage over South Korea? Yes. Works Cited Anders C. Johansson. Escaping Political Extraction: Political Participation, Institutions, and Cash Holdings in China. China Economic Review 30 (2014): 98-112. Law, Kam, and Kim Ming .

Socio-Political Embeddings of South Asian Ethnic Minorities Economic Situations in Hong Kong. Journal of Contemporary China 22.84 (2013): 984-1005. Mazerolle, Paul. A Response to “Social Change, Life Strain, and Delinquency among Chinese Urban Adolescents” : Thoughts on the Broader Implication of Chinas Economic Success on the Production of Delinquency. Sociological Focus 42.3 (2009): 306-311. Web. Ramirez, Carlos D. The Political Economy of “Currency Manipulation” Bashing. China Economic Review 27 (2013): 227-237.

Tyers, Rod. Looking Inward For Transformative Growth. China Economic Review 29 (2014): 166-184.