Korea's economic prosperity: implications for Australia

Abstract

The Australia-Korea relationship started in the late 19th Century when Australian missionaries established modern hospitals and missionary schools in Korea. From the Korean War until the 1960s, the bilateral relationship was predominantly based on Australia's asymmetric support for Korean security, and there was little attempt by either country to broaden the relationship. It was during the mid-1970s when both countries recognised each other as an important economic partner, and the bilateral relationship started to grow from a symmetry of interests between the two countries. The purposes of this paper are first to examine recent developments in Australia-Korea economic relations. Second, it reviews Korean economic development and the major contributing factors over the last three decades. Third, drawing on the review and an assessment of recent internal and external environments for the Korean economy, the paper attempts to shed some light on the prospects of the Korean economy. Finally, the paper draws some implications of the projected Korean economy for Australia.