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South Korea: To Some the Philippines, To Many Another Vietnam
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10034 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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4 / 1986 |
1,817 Words |
| Author
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William L. Scully
William L. Scully, who holds a Ph.D. in Asian history from New
York University, is a specialist in U.S. policy in Asia. |
Few would deny that recent developments in the Philippines and South Korea appear to parallel one another. To argue, however, that the long overdue democratization of the Philippines has set in motion a "domino phenomenon" that clearly portends the imminent demise of the present government in Seoul is, at best, rather presumptuous. Such faulty reasoning, one suspects, is born more of wishful thinking than of objective analysis.
Those similarities that can be said to exist between South Korea under President Chun Doo Hwan and the pre-Aquino rule in the Philippines could just as easily be said of Indonesia under President Soeharto, Burma under General Ne Win, or--to a lesser extent--Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew. Generally, in each case there is evident a strong presidential/authoritarian system; political opposition is either curtailed or effectively circumscribed; human rights violations are alleged to exist; and, with the exception of Singapore, the military--whether in uniform or mufti--exercises an important, if not predominant, role in the political and developmental life of the country. To argue or suggest anything beyond these broad generalizations and similarities is misleading and fraught with danger.
To say that "South Korea is not the Philippines" should not be construed as a defense of President Chun vis-a-vis the political opposition in the South. Rather, it is a recognition that important and critical differences are at play in each situation.
Differences
Although the Philippine economy under President Marcos suffered immeasurably, the same cannot be said of the Republic of Korea over the past several decades. During that time, the free world has rightfully admired--and, in some cases, coveted--the dramatic transformation that has taken place in South Korea. While it suffered enormous devastation during World War II and a tragic fratricidal conflict in the early 1950s, the Republic of Korea has successfully transfigured itself from a primitive agricultural society to an industrial nation. Today, Korea stands as a vital, stable, and relatively advanced industrialized member of the free world community.
Beginning in 1962, under the stewardship of President Park Chung Hee, Korea launched a series of five-year plans which stressed an outward-looking development strategy that emphasized the growth of exports. In the 19-year period between 1962 and 1980, GNP--at 1980 prices--grew from $12.7 billion to $57.4 billion, an
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