No.52 2019. 06 Development and Issue
Korea’s Experience of Democratic Development at the International Cooperation Perspective: from Recipient to Donor
Dong-choon Kim*, Dongtaek Kim, Dae-oup Chang, Jaekwang Han, Hyungchul Kim, Youngje Lee**
I. Introduction
There is a growing need for extending the focus of interest on the development experience of Korea from the economic development model (state-led development, developmental state, etc.) to the development process of its democracy. Although the democratization experience of Korea is an important topic in academia and the development cooperation field, there have been little sufficient research and systematic studies due to the internal and external restrictions. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the perspective of international development cooperation and by doing so develop and provide appropriate policy implications.
The objective of this study is to examine Korea’s experience of democratization from the perspective of international development cooperation and provide implications for international development cooperation projects. To that end, this study summarizes the international contributions to the development of democracy in Korea and explores the potential and ways in which Korea’s international development cooperation would contribute to the development of democracy in the world in the future.
✽ Corresponding author (Director of Institute for Korean Democracy) ✽✽ Dongtaek Kim (Associate Professor of Sogang University), Dae-oup Chang (Associate Professor of Sogang University), Jaekwang Han (Co-chair of People’s Initiative for Development Alternatives), Hyungchul Kim (Research Professor of Sungkonghoe University), Youngje Lee (Vice Director of Institute for Korean Democracy) Development and Issue Korea’s Experience of Democratic Development at the International Cooperation Development and Issue Korea’s Experience of Democratic Development at the International Cooperation Perspective: from Recipient to Donor Perspective: from Recipient to Donor
Ⅱ. Korea’s Experience of Democratic Development change as the path dependence increases, and the underlying force for the at the Political Economy Perspective sustainability can be said to be the repeated recalls and reproductions of popular sovereignty.
The unique experience of Korea with international assistance for democratization To understand the historical context of the democratization movement, it is can be a strength but at the same time a disadvantage. The path of Korean democracy required to conduct a structural analysis of the characteristics of the society at the cannot and should not be duplicated by other Asian countries. However, given that time that caused the democratization movement. Also, the dynamic nature of the the formation of an autonomous agencies is essential in democratization, the need mutual relations among the political forces who were dissatisfied with the existing for international assistance to the making of such subject is of high importance. system and came to act should be identified. Lastly, a macro-causal analysis should be attempted on how these behaviors could remain persistent in the Korean society. 3. Position of Democracy in Korea’s Development Discourse
The importance of democracy in Korea's development discourse is secondary at best. 1. Origin and History of Korean Democracy This secondary importance of democracy in understanding Korean development stems from the "economic development first, democratization later” theory that the economic The history of Korea for the last 100 years can be viewed and studied in various development by the Park Chung-hee administration preceded democratization and the aspects. Perhaps, one of the most important key concepts in doing so can be democratization was based on that economic development. However, considering the democratic revolution. The process of democratization involved many historic fact that the democratization movement had started before the market economy was conjunctures such as the March 1st Movement means a radical departure from the fully established and that the democratization movement had matured alongside the past, which contained a shift of the sovereign power from the monarchy to the process of economic development, Korea's development can be characterized by people, resulting in the constitution of the democratic republic and the provisional "accompanying of democratization and industrialization.” Different from many government. Since then, Korea’s democratization has been marked by the continuous developing countries which are stuck in the state of formal democracy, Korea has uprisings for democracy such as the April 19 Revolution (1960), the June Struggle successfully consolidated its democracy through the repeated recalls of popular (1987), and the Candlelight Struggle (2016-2017), which demonstrated the dynamism sovereignty. Succeeding the previous democratization movement, the occurrence of of the Korean democracy. the Candlelight Struggle demonstrated that democracy can resolve social development The continuous unfolding of democracy has been manifested through the repeated issues that the market cannot deal with and revealed the importance of democracy in public demonstrations along with the slogan, “The sovereignty shall reside in the the development process of Korea. Nevertheless, the process of democratization has people,” to break through the legitimacy crisis of the state power. not been seriously taken in the discussion of Korea’s development model, because the international discussions on the development experience and model of Korea have been 2. Sustainability and Momentum of Korean Democracy centered around development state theory. The interests on the East Asia development model have rapidly increased after the The sustainability of Korean democracy has become a unique form of political growth of Korea and Taiwan which had been considered underdeveloped countries.
02 03 Development and Issue Korea’s Experience of Democratic Development at the International Cooperation Development and Issue Korea’s Experience of Democratic Development at the International Cooperation Perspective: from Recipient to Donor Perspective: from Recipient to Donor
They transformed their agricultural society into an industrial society and increased state organizations to the competence of individual government officials. In so doing, their power in the global export market. The important point in their development it distortedly presents Korea as a “country which succeeded in the economic growth experiences is that it seems that the state, not the private players, led the change by the state with strong leadership” and ignores the external and internal (Önis, 1991). The concept of "East Asian Developmental State,” which was mentioned contradictions found in the process. Developed countries in the East Asian region by Chalmers Johnson for the first time in his study on the Japanese state and including Korea had to practically give up the half of the sovereignty to become part industrialization, refers to the state with the capabilities of designing and of the US-led Cold War development scheme. By doing so, they could secure implementing industrial policies and intervening in the process of economic growth. assistance, investment, and market but ended up a half-sovereign state. Also, after transferring the half of the sovereignty to the Cold War system, they monopolized Developmental state theory insisted that while the state-led development the remaining half and used it to force low-pay labor in the export industry for disappeared at the end of the 1970s in other regions, the power to mobilize private manufacturing consumer goods for consumers in developed countries, not for the economic players to march toward planned goals, organizational coherence, and working people in their own countries (Deyo, 1987, 1989). While doing that, labor in autonomy were still found in East Asian countries. According to the theory, these the East Asian countries became the victim suffering delayed income raise and social states can increase demand and supply to achieve the state-wide development goals, welfare and oppression of rights. Democracy was completely suppressed to maintain “get prices wrong (Amsden, 1989: 149), or intervene to effectively govern the this system, but ironically, the strong desire for democracy had been vented market”(Wade, 1990). Korea was named as a typical example of this theory. continuously and repeatedly. The characteristics of East Asian development are identified by the development Developmental state theory ignores these external and internal contradictions, so state theory as follows: 1) East Asian countries developed because of the state’s in the theory, democracy exists outside ‘development’ which is substituted by effective market intervention; 2) the state’s capability of market intervention is economic growth. In that theory, the dictatorship before the democratization is based on the unique relationship between the state, market, and social players; and understood as plausible to secure the state’s leadership and realize economic growth, 3) that peculiar relationship comes from the capacities of the leaders and government and the strong social desire for democratization, which became prominent after the officials who constitute the state apparatus. The relation between the state and 1980s, is considered to perform an incidental role such as merely preventing the market is marked by industrial policies such as the state’s control over the financial authoritarian state from being corrupted (Amsden, 1989). There is no serious sector, powerful authority of the development departments, strategic and selective consideration on the role played by this desire for democracy in the process of allocation of fund, development plans accompanied by the design of state's strategic development in Korea. industries, and various subsidies, incentives, and tax cuts. Furthermore, the relation between the private capital and the state is captured by the concept of the state’s developmental autonomy, and the reason for the state autonomy against the private sector is considered the competence of individual government officials(Chang, D-O. 2013: 87-89).
Developmental state theory reduces development to economic growth, the source of economic growth to the capacities of state organizations, and the capacities of
04 05 Development and Issue Korea’s Experience of Democratic Development at the International Cooperation Development and Issue Korea’s Experience of Democratic Development at the International Cooperation Perspective: from Recipient to Donor Perspective: from Recipient to Donor
Ⅲ. Korea’s Experience of Democratic Development at