People usually think of the economic miracle as the first, but as my old friend Horace G. Underwood used to say, "The education miracle preceded the economic miracle." And I subscribe to that idea also. When I was first in Korea, the terribly poor people were everywhere pursuing education. Everyone was convinced that education was the way out of poverty ― and it was true. I learned early on in Korean life that the "haksaeng" (the student) was respected. Look at the meaning of the Chinese characters for "haksaeng" ― literally, "to study as a way of life." That was the key.
Today Korea leads the world in education. Most high school graduates. Most college graduates. Highest literacy rate in the world. The first E is not a failing grade! The first E is education. The second E is the economy.
The third E is entertainment. Who could have predicted that entertainment would be the major industry, the major export that it is? I didn't predict it. When I was working in Korea as the Fulbright Director in the late 70s early 80s, in our building ― we were in the Garden Tower Building, across from the gate to the Secret Garden ― there was a motion picture company headquarters. They imported American movies and produced Korean movies. I spoke with them in their office one day ― met in the elevator and started talking (people liked to talk to a foreigner who could speak Korean).
They told me of the government's protective tariff on importing foreign (American) movies. Any motion picture company that imported a movie to show in Korean movie houses could only import one movie after they had produced four of their own. The idea was to stimulate domestic movie production by limiting the number of imported movies. The effect was just the opposite. (My 'free trade' friends love this example.). In order to comply with the law, the company quickly produced four really bad movies. So they could qualify to import an American movie. This company got the rights to "The Sting" ― a great movie and big money maker. They could make enough off of one blockbuster movie to finance the quick production of four substandard ones.
At some point, Korea saw that this was a losing proposition and the rules changed, and Korea started producing great movies domestically, including, needless to say, the country's first Academy Award Best Picture award for "Parasite." It was also the first movie to win the award wherein one had to read the subtitles. This of course was followed by "Squid Game," an absolutely awful drama series (IMHO) that broke all kinds of records on Netflix.
And of course, there is K-pop music, which is garnering all kinds of attention ― and money ― from all around the world. BTS has been featured on every American TV late night show and even garnered a visit to the Biden White House.
Why? What is the reason for the success of the entertainment industry? Well, I think it's a by-product of the high educational level, riding on top of the economic success of Korea. Honestly, the thing I don't like about the boy-bands and the girl-groups is the very thing that makes them a success ― they are highly manufactured. These bands aren't like the Beatles that started in a garage and then played and played and played and wrote their own music together. Natural. Organic. These K-pop groups have a team of writers, musicians, producers, choreographers, and agents (and who knows what else) that back them up. The production quality is, as they say, off the charts. Fast-paced videos, rhythms, music ― it's all highly manufactured. It may as well be a cell phone with all the technology that goes into the production of the performances. "Production quality."
Well, my view of K-pop is a little cynical. Ya think? But it's a view of entertainment that comes as a result of highly educated, economically savvy teams of people in today's Korea.
Don't say Korea is "overeducated." I hear that a lot. And maybe Korea needs to emphasize non-college, skill-based education, rather than pushing all students through colleges. You can tell that has gone awry when you ask someone which college they attended and they refuse to tell you the name of the college because people know it's a fourth-rate school.
The success of the country's well-educated population leaves no doubt that Korea is a functioning country, with a thriving economy, and wonderful entertainment.
Congratulations! Korea's success story ― the three E's, Education, Economy, and Entertainment.
Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.