How Benevolent Dictator, Park Chung Hee, Transformed South Korea
We characterize these regimes as "economically benevolent" autocracies. By this term, we refer to an autocratic regime whose rulers employ the authority of the state to achieve a national economic transformation because their utility functions place a higher value on long-term GDP growth than growth in their Swiss bank accounts. This designation is not meant as a term of praise but rather as a way of distinguishing authoritarian rulers who place national development ahead of personal enrichment.
We recognize that expressing a positive opinion of an autocrat will (and should) at first elicit a visceral negative reaction. Those leaders of the regimes we will describe as economically benevolent very often were not benevolent---indeed, in some cases, they were monstrous---in other dimensions. Moreover, autocracies on average have produced no better (and by some measures worse) economic growth than weak democracies, the only horse in the race. However, not all autocratic governments operate in the same way; for instance, in Korea, Taiwan, Chile, Singapore, and China, their performance was well above average. The regime heads in those nations, maybe by pure coincidence, had various goals, and collectively, they fared considerably better than other autocracies and less oppressive regimes.
Korea was a colony of Japan from 1910 to 1945. Following Japan's defeat and surrender in the Second World War, Korea was divided into two parts. The southern portion, South Korea, was put directly under the control of the American military government until 1948. A South Korean government was established in 1948 under Syngman Rhee, who remained in power until a student revolt forced him to resign and retire in 1960. A military coup in 1961, led by a Major General of the South Korean Army, Park Chung Hee, overthrew the government that succeeded Rhee. Park became president and ruled South Korea as a dictator until his assassination in 1979.
The economic condition of South Korea in the 1950s was dismal. In fact, when Park took over, the economy was passing through a severe crisis with decreasing growth and rising unemployment (Schwartz, 1989). Park initiated and implemented an economic strategy that transformed the economy and achieved remarkable economic progress.
South Korea's fast expansion has been followed, as in industrialized nations, by major structural changes. Around 1960, South Korea's economy was mostly agricultural, similar to that of other Third World nations, with just 1.5 percent of the labor force employed in manufacturing and 68.3 percent of the workforce dependent on agriculture, forestry, and fishing for a living. By the late 1980s, due to quick economic expansion, manufacturing had surpassed agriculture in importance, with the former providing 27.7% of jobs and the latter just 20.7% (Yoo, 1990).
Park gave top priority to economic growth, which was regarded as a chief factor that would legitimize the military regime (Mason et al., 1980). In fact, according to Alam (1989), he stated that "the key factor of the May 16 military revolution was to effect an industrial revolution in Korea."
Park, being a dictator, could use some methods that are not always feasible in more democratic situations. For example, labor activities were carefully regulated in order to guarantee a cheap and disciplined labor force. Labor disturbance was harshly penalized, and unions were weak (Koo, H., 1986). Social development was disregarded as a result of the single-minded focus on economic progress (Cole and Lyman, 1971; Yeon, 1989; Amsden, 1989). For a long time, the government was likewise unconcerned with expenses like inflation.
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Why Might a Dictatorial Economy Actually Do Well (at Least in the Short Run)?
To start with, let's look at two different sorts of autocrats. The first is a leader that has a long-term outlook and a dedication to implementing institutional changes and policies that are likely to promote growth, like Deng Xiaoping in China. The second kind of leader, like Mugabe in Zimbabwe, has a short-term outlook and exhibits high levels of predation, maybe due to the uncertain political climate where he may lose power.
