South Korea Society under Park
Namdaemun, or South Gate, Seoul, showing the contrast of the old city
with the new
Courtesy Oren Hadar
The rapid pace of industrialization not only changed much of
the South Korean landscape, as farmlands were converted into
highways and factory sites, but also profoundly modified the
social structure, social values, and behavior. As late as 1965,
some 58.7 percent of the labor force was engaged in agriculture
and fishery, but the percentage declined to 50.4 percent in 1970
and 38.4 percent in 1978. The percentage of workers engaged in
secondary industries, including mining and manufacturing, rose
from 10.3 percent in 1965 to 35.2 percent in 1970 and 38.4
percent in 1978. Industrialization led to a rapid increase in
South Korea's urban population, which rose from 28.3 percent of
the total in 1960 to 54.9 percent in 1979. Rapid urbanization
compounded the problems of housing, transportation, sanitation,
and pollution, and exacerbated other social problems.
Improved living standards and ever-increasing job
opportunities accelerated the desire among South Koreans for
education, particularly at secondary schools and institutions of
higher learning. In 1960 about one-third of children between
twelve and fourteen years of age attended middle schools; that
proportion increased to 53.3 percent in 1970 and 74.0 percent in
1975. In 1960 some 19.9 percent of the population between fifteen
and seventeen years of age attended high schools; that proportion
increased to 29.3 percent in 1970 and 40.5 percent in 1975. By
1970 about 9.3 percent of college-age youths attended colleges
and universities and the number of university graduates exceeded
30,000 a year. Eight years later, 41,680 students graduated from
four-year institutions of higher learning
(see Education
, ch. 2).
Most workers with higher education qualifications were
absorbed by the rapidly growing industrial and commercial
sectors, joining the ranks of the growing middle class. Demands
and rewards for people in the more prestigious fields--doctors,
lawyers, economists, scientists, and managers--were increasing.
The number of white-collar workers in commerce, industry,
banking, civil service, and the teaching profession also rose, as
did the number of small entrepreneurs and retailers.
A high proportion of those people who regarded themselves as
middle class resided in Seoul, the locale for much of the
nation's wealth, talent, and many of its cultural resources. As
beneficiaries of the rapidly expanding economy, much of the
middle class either was content with its situation or indifferent
to politics. Many highly educated persons in this group who found
themselves in less well-paid positions than they would have liked
remained dissatisfied, and together with students and
intellectuals they formed the core of opposition to the Park
regime.
Rural villages also underwent changes of revolutionary
proportions, particularly after 1971. As the government had
emphasized industrial growth and slighted the agrarian sector,
agricultural production lagged; its annual rate of growth during
the 1967-72 period was only about 2.5 percent. With overall GNP
growing at over 10 percent a year during the same period, the
rural economy steadily lost ground, until by 1969 farm income was
only a little more than half that earned by urban workers. This
situation contributed to the high rate of migration to the cities
and eroded political support for the president
(see Agriculture
, ch. 3).
This situation led the government to take active measures to
increase farm productivity and income in 1971. Government
subsidies to farmers were increased by setting relatively high
prices for grains. Higher-yield rice varieties were introduced.
Advanced agricultural technology was made more widely available
through extension services and more fertilizers and credits were
provided. As a result of these measures, farm productivity and
farm income increased very rapidly during the ensuing years, and
the rate of emigration to the cities tapered off.
The Saemaul Movement was instituted with great fanfare by
Park in the fall of 1971. The movement was envisioned as a highly
organized, intensively administered campaign to improve the
"environment" quality of rural life through projects undertaken
by the villagers themselves with government assistance. The
bureaucracy, particularly at the regional and local levels, was
mobilized on a massive scale to ensure that the program would be
carried through to completion in all 36,000 villages. The initial
emphasis was on improving village roads and bridges and replacing
thatch with tile or composition roofs.
The momentum was maintained and increased in subsequent years
as the Saemaul Movement evolved into a major ideological campaign
aimed at the psychological mobilization of the entire country in
support of "nation building." During the first two or three
years, emphasis continued to be on improving the village
environment, but later focus was shifted toward projects designed
to raise agricultural productivity and farm income.
As local government officials were jolted out of their
traditional lethargy by the continuing insistence of higher
authorities that essential services be delivered to farmers, the
farmers began to have ready access to agricultural extension
services, rural credit, and market information. The result of
improved services and increased resource allocation was that
farmers became more confident of their ability to improve the
village environment through their own cooperative efforts and
became more convinced of the usefulness of outside official help.
As a result of the Saemaul Movement, about 85 percent of villages
had electricity, and about 60 percent of farm households had
television sets by the late 1970s. Some 85 percent of rural
children continued from free, obligatory primary schooling to
middle school, and over 50 percent of these middle school pupils
were entering high schools. Many farmers also acquired modern
amenities that had been available only to city dwellers just a
decade earlier, such as sewing machines, radios, irons, and wall
clocks.
Data as of June 1990
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