Determinants of Korean Education And its Role in Building the Modern Republic of Korea 1948-2000

Abstract

    The current Article is an attempt to understand the unique development experience that the Republic of Korea has lived through in the path of modern states, through which it has been able to achieve a large number of achievements, especially in the economic field, which has reserved for itself a high position among what is known as the Asian Tigers, which represent economic powers with a great influence on the path of the global economy. The Republic of Korea has succeeded since the seventies of the twentieth century in entering a major development phase that has become an example to be followed by third world countries, despite the poor economic conditions that the Republic of Korea has suffered as a result of the Japanese occupation of Korea and then the division of the Korean Peninsula into two halves, communist socialist in the north and democratic capitalist in the south, followed by the Korean War, which lasted for three years, as a result of which the two Koreas suffered difficult political and economic problems.

    Korea has succeeded in modernizing its economy and has become, in a short period of time, among the advanced industrial countries, after it was also able to prepare the climate to achieve economic stability as well as political stability. In terms of economic stability, the Republic of Korea has been able to achieve high growth, while in terms of political stability, Korea has been able to establish a political system that follows the democratic path since 1987, passing through the nineties of the twentieth century when Korea was able to move forward in transferring power peacefully from the military to an elected civilian leadership.

     The research was based on a hypothesis represented by a central question that we tried to answer: How did the Republic of Korea invest in education to advance human development in Korean society and what are the most prominent determinants of the educational policy of the Korean education system? To answer this question, the determinants of educational policy in Korea were studied, to understand the cultural and social factors in addition to the role of the middle class that affected education and thus shaped Korean educational policy. The role of education in driving the wheel of human development in Korea was also highlighted, which was reflected in the government goals that aim to develop educational policies in the future. The research then focused on the features of educational policy in the Republic of Korea, which included the general objectives of education, and the government policy followed in the process of organizing education and caring for primary, secondary and university education.