Law and Development: Korean Contemporary History in Retrospect

Prof. Lee Chang Hee
Professor of Law
Seoul National Univ. College of Law

This paper reviews the contemporary history of Korea from the perspective of law and development. My thesis is that the role of law and lawyers in Korea was negligible in the economic development as well as the democratization of Korean society. The paper first notes that the judiciary and lawyers almost never attempted to improve the political nightmare of the period. In the area of economic development, the rule of law was not a pre-condition, but a product of economic development. Economic growth during the 1960s and the 1970s was based on the rule of man or governmental planning led by the military junta, which did not respect law or lawyers. As the economy of the 1980s outgrew the command stage of the 1960s and the 1970s, conflicts arose between the junta and the Chaebol or business conglomerates. This conflict led to the civil revolution of 1987, led by white collar workers who benefited from or formed part of the Chaebol economy. Finding that Korea would, unlike in the 1980s, be able to have a democratic and yet rightist government supported by white collar workers as well as the traditional right wing, the United States presumably proscribed the junta from quashing the white collar revolt of 1987, though the exact role of the United States behind the curtain may never be clarified. After the advent of democracy in 1987, the judiciary claimed to be the ‘final bastion’ of human rights, which in reality was a mere disguise for self-serving pursuit of political power. Lastly, if the rule of law does not explain economic growth, what does? This question, obviously, is far beyond my ability to answer, but the paper tries to disprove the view of attributing the Korean success to the Japanese colonial legacy.