[guildwriter]

It's worth mentioning that Korean democracy is a relatively new phenomenon. For a period of time, South Korea was effectively a military dictatorship. It was only until 1988 that SKorea actually elected a president for the first time. Before that it was just one military coup after another.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Chung-hee

Park Chung-hee is largely credited for creating the "Miracle on the Han River" which led to the current prosperous SKorea we know today. He was also a brutally repressive leader who tortured and killed many of his opponents.

[xiaoma]

The other three Asian tigers weren't democracies then, either. But along with Korea they were free market economies. While political freedoms were limited, it was a far, far cry from the situation in any of the communist countries in Asia. The choice between living in South Korea vs North Korea was clear even in the mid 1980s.

[ryan606]

This is very interesting, and not something that many have given much thought to (including me). It suggests that Capitalism is a more effective path to freedom than Democracy, over the long term. Perhaps this bodes well for China.

[kobayashi]

Free markets, free minds, free individuals.

It's a libertarian mantra. I'm not a libertarian but the substance behind the credo is commendable and accurate.

[Synaesthesia]

Not so clear before that. In fact the north did significantly better than the south then. There was a large influx of cash to South Korea from the Vietnam war (for which Korea provided 300000 mercenaries)

[Ting-wei]

Yeah, before that quite a few Koreans migrated from the South to the North, as the north was doing better initially.