Post-War Korean Conservatism, Japanese Statism, and the Legacy of President Park Chung-hee in South Korea

Abstract

During this period, his ideas were deeply engraved in Korean society. Even in the present day, his conservative ideas are a source of continuing controver-sy. To understand conservative ideas and ideological disputes between conservatism and progressivism in Korea, it is important to objectively understand Park’s ideas. To this end, we analyze his ideas in relation to Japanese statism. We do not intend to resolve the long-standing controversies over whether Park was pro-Japan during the colonial period or whether his ideas and policies benefited Korea. Nor do we intend to evaluate his ideas in a wholly negative light by arguing that they were influenced by Japanese statism. Various legitimate stances can be taken toward statism, in general, and Park’s ideas, in particular, and it is not our purpose to evaluate these stances. In this article, we show that there is a resemblance between conservative characteristics of Japanese statism—a mixture of militarism, elitism, and physiocracy—and Park’s ideas and his policies. More than sixty percent of Koreans are farmers. Rural areas can become a huge market that will contribute to industrial development. Thus, we cannot overemphasize the importance of increasing rural house-hold income (Park 2005, 470-471).