South Korean Development Cooperation in Africa: The Legacy of a Developmental State

Abstract

This paper investigates how the legacy of the South Korean developmental state influences the way the country conducts its development cooperation (DC) policies. We argue that institutions of the developmental state remain instrumental in structuring South Korea's cooperation with the developing world. Two country case studies of South Korean DC and investment projects in Mozambique and Rwanda show that state initiative and a strong state–business partnership are defining elements of South Korean DC. At the same time, both cases show substantial differences when it comes to type of project, type of state–business partnership in the South Korean approach, degree of project ownership by the recipient country, and quality of governance in the recipient countries.

The politics of climate change in a neo-developmental state: The case of South Korea

“…In the old developmental state, business was the junior partner, while the government was the main actor; however, business is now the senior partner, while the state maintains autonomy only in certain policy niches. Green industrial policies are one of those niches where path dependency prevails because big business conglomerates are weak and international political pressure is strong (another niche is supporting overseas investment in new and challenging markets; see Kalinowski and Park, 2016).…”

Anxieties of an emerging donor: The Korean development experience and the politics of international development cooperation

“…Within the KSP, there is a constitutive tension between exporting a Korea's development experience as an alternative model and extending the expertise of actors associated with Korea's developmental state (cf. Kalinowski and Park, 2016). The KSP is controlled by elite institutions from the era of rapid development such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the KDI -two parts of the former Economic Planning Board (EPB), the pilot industrial planning agency praised by developmental state theorists.…”

Legitimate Social Purpose and South Korea’s Support for Entrepreneurial Finance Since the Asian Financial Crisis

“…Meanwhile, Pirie (2016: 686) explains that political leadership conceptualised the GFC as an external threat caused by the liberal nature of Western capitalism to "legitimate illiberal statist economic policies". In development cooperation, Kalinowski and Park (2016) explain how the state works closely with the private sector including chaebols. This is seen as legitimate because the moral obligation for development assistance is met with the chaebol needing government assistance in emerging markets.…”