Presentation: Jim Glassman (Professor, Department of Geography at University of British Columbia)

Date: Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014. 15:00 ~ 17:00

Place: Asia Center Building 101, Room #406.

On December 3^rd, SSK East Asia Urban Studies of Seoul National University Asia Center has organized a colloquium, inviting Jim Glassman as the speaker. Jim Glassman, professor of department of Geography at University of British Columbia, have explained that in 1960, the productivity level of manufacturing business in Philippines was four times that of South Korea. However, entering the 1980s, the table has turned, and the level of manufacturing productivity of South Korea doubled the amount of the Philippines. Many have analyzed the phenomena and have explained the growth of South Korea with the intervention of government as the main factor of successful economic development. Many also concluded the economic development as a result of the government intervention.

According to such historical change aspect, Glassman has spent the past six years on studying such evaluations on East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the US. Based on his studies, Glassman asserted that such evaluation ought to be reconsidered based on six years research results about during the past evaluations on East Asia, Southeast Asia and the U.S.

In fact, such tendency has been increasing over the past few years. Numerous Korean scholars also have begun to criticize the negative consequences of Korean developmental state.

Under such notion, a comparative study between the impact of Vietnam war on South Korea and the Philippines was conducted. It was used to further examine the effect of geopolitics of war on the rise of South Korean Developmentalism dynamics. The colloquium has brought a great insight on contemplating the developmentalism in East Asian countries, not only on Korean or Philippine societies.

Park, Tae Gyun, professor at Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University has brought up meaningful discussions as well. He pointed out that the most of what Glassman has argued were agreeable. Park explained that how the wars has intervened and effected the economic development of the regional communities in East Asia is not only limited to Vietnam War, but also all the wars in East Asia. Park praised that the presentation by Glassman was well organized overall. However, he added that while Glassman saw the economic development of Korea as the result of outside circumstances, Park suggested the need to include the innate capacity of Korea itself as a factor of Korean economic development. He also pointed out that comparative studies between Korea and Taiwan would also be very important.