The contrast between North and South Korea could hardly be starker. According to the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom, the latter ranks as the 15th economically freest country in the world, ahead of the UK (28th) and the United States (25th). North Korea, by comparison, brings up the rear in 176th place.
Prior to its partition into a capitalist south and a communist north in 1948, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world, on par with sub-Saharan Africa. In the wake of World War II, South Korea found itself in a difficult starting position with no financial aid coming from the U.S., while North Korea received considerable support from the Soviet Union and China.
South Korea was an agricultural country without any significant mineral deposits – almost all of the Korean peninsula’s reserves of natural resources, which include iron ore, gold, copper, lead, zinc, graphite, molybdenum, limestone and marble, are located in North Korea. South Korea’s population grew very quickly – from 16 million to 21 million between 1945 and 1947 alone – due to the influx of refugees from the communist North. Many people lived at or below subsistence level.
In July 1961, the Japanese government........