Korea’s Transformation: 100 Years of Growth & Progress

In the 1950s and 1960s, when Korea first started exports, natural minerals and seafood were made. In 1961, Korea’s largest export was iron ore. Ten exports are only four minerals, including middle stone, anthracite coal, and graphite. Here include life and death (thread from silkworm cocoons), squid and pork hair. Animals such as squirrels, earthworms, snakes, and grasshoppers have become a means of foreign currency. The environmental sanitation worker collected the ginkgo leaves of the street. The pee of the public toilet was also collected to export Eurokinase, a stroke treatment. In this effort, the ‘poorest country’ in the ruins of the war was able to become the first country to pay attention to the world after 80 years of independence.

According to the National Statistical Office on the 18th, the statistical survey in Korea began in 1925 since the Census Investigation (Sensors). Since the establishment of the Korean government, the first general investigation was conducted in 1949. The 100 -year history of the Sensus contains Korean power generation, including 80 years after the liberation.

Geun -young Chung designer

In 1953, when the national rebuild began after the Korean War, the Korean nominal GDP (GDP) was 47.74 billion won (about $ 477.4 million, based on the won per dollar at the time). At that time, it was only about 0.12% of the world’s No. 1 US GDP ($ 397 billion). Korea continued to grow annually and achieved GDP 2556.8574 billion last year. In more than 70 years, the economy has grown 53,500 times. GNI per capita (national income) was $ 36745 last year from $ 67 in 1953. In particular, in 2023, GNI in Korea began to jump over Japan.

The success of the Korean economy is called the miracle of the Han River. Based on the government -led economic growth model, export -oriented manufacturing development policies have fundamentally changed the direction of the Korean economy. Exports expanded from $ 25 million in 1956 to $ 683.8 billion last year. This is 4.8%of the world’s exports, ranking sixth in the world. Exports were changed from mineral and agricultural products in the 1960s to fibers, and then to heavy and high -tech industries such as electronics, automobiles and semiconductors. The defense industry and nuclear power plants, which were completely dependent on the United States, are now exported to the world. The shipbuilding industry in Korea has established itself as the target of the US dependent.

It is a whistle written by President Park Chung -hee to commemorate the $ 100 billion in exports.

There is also a big change in the industrial structure. In the early 1950s, the manufacturing industry was mainstream in the 70s, and the proportion of the service industry increased since the 80s. In 1953, the agricultural and fishery division accounted for 48.2%of industrial production, but only 1.5%in 2023. Since democratization in 1987, the establishment of political stability and market economy system has become a support for Korea’s rapid growth.

According to the Census of the National Statistical Office, in 1949, the South Korean population increased by 2.5 times from 2017 to 51.75 million in 2022 (13th in Asia and 29th in the world). In the 1960s, the scenery of three and even four in one house was familiar. It was a natural phenomenon that appeared in family -centered farming. It was not uncommon for a large family with more than 10 families. In 1952, the average number of households was 5.4.

The family gathers to play. Central photos

After the high growth period in the 1970s, it was transformed from agricultural society to an industrial society, and the family system was also windy. In 1980, the average number of households was 4.6, and in 1995, it was reduced to 3.3 and 2.9 in 2005. There is also time for the ‘four -person family’ average. In 2023, only 2.2 families live in one house.

The aging index rose to 186.7 last year from 8 (8 elderly people per 100 people) in 1955. Expected life span rose from 61.9 in 1970 to 83.5 years in 2023. Instead, the number of immigrants is increasing. The number of immigrants who acquired Korean nationality was 39,000 by 2006, but last year, it increased to 32,300 (cumulative basis).

The illiteracy rate in 1945 was about 78%. Eight out of ten adults were unable to read and write. The illiteracy rate decreased significantly to 12.4%in 1970, and in the 2020s, the illiteracy rate was almost 0%. It is thanks to the spread of basic education and the national -led educational reform.

The number of students increased due to the post -war baby boom, but the school was not enough. In the 1960s, 70-90 Koreans were held, and the bean sprouts class was conducted from the three subtitles. In recent years, the private education market has developed, and more than 80.0% of high school students from elementary school students participate in the academy class for about 7.6 hours per week (2022 Private Education Survey) Public Education has shifted to creativity, thinking -oriented education, digital -based learning, and convergence future education system.

Korea’s first space launch vehicle, Naro (KSLV-1), was launched at the Goheung Naroju Center in Jeonnam on January 30, 2013 and is flying toward space. [뉴스1]

The change in high -educated society is another growth engine in Korea. As of 1966, Korea’s acquisition of doctoral acquisitions was about 35 per 1 million people, but last year, the number of doctors in Korea was 17,7528, and the number of doctors per 1 million people was around 339. Harvard Belper Center ranks fifth in Korea this year. Semiconductor is the world’s fifth place, AI (artificial intelligence) is 9th, and space technology is 13th. According to the world’s power rankings by the news and data analysis media, the Use News & World Report, Korea ranked sixth this year after the US, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Germany.