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Korean economy independent countries South Korea post-war
Korean Economy: Independent Countries--South Korea (1945-50)
Figure 1.--At the end of the Pacific War, Korea was split between north and south. At the time the north was heavily industrialized and the south was poor and largely agricultural. This continued to be vase in the immediate aftermath of the Koprean War before capitalism and Communism began to change Korea and the Koreans. This phototograph was taken near Freedom Village at the DMZ. Nothing could better illustrate the nature of capitalism and communism than what those two systems did to their respective area of Korea--the Mirracle on the Han and the disater on the Yalu.
The Republic of Korea (ROK) emerged in the south after the Paciic War. As strange as it may seem today, the South at the time was poorer area of Korea. It was mostly an agricultural area with few natural resources or installed industrial base. The Japanese had pursued a program of industrialization, but mostly in the north where the natural resources were located. Before World War II, colonial Korea's trade was controllrf by Japanese authoritiesnand thus almost entirely with Japan. The de-colonization process and political division disrupted trade both with Japan and within Korea. This caused causing serious economic turmoil. The United States provided limited economic assistance. The U.S. military government seized and privatized properties previously owned by the Japanese government and civilians and transferred the assetts to Korean authorities. The basic economic activity at the time was agriculture. The South Korean government when established, carried out a land reform, making land ownership more egalitarian (1948). This would adversely affect many peasant recpients when the Communists invaded. The Comminists were prone to execute land owners, even small propritors.
