Quote:
Originally posted by oktjabr
I don't think it was exactly a process of reconstruction that was the only thing limiting freedoms in South Korea, but power of chaebols (corporate congmelorates) that saw it efficient to keep the striking workers and trade unions at bay. Something that can be seen in China nowadays. I don't think there were really that much to reconstruct anyway as Korea was a rather underdeveloped country and surely not fully recovered from the japanese occupation. But I agree, maybe it directly isn't on-topic - but I just wished to point out that Korean war wasn't one of these imported-democracy projects.
And if I'm not mistaken, south koreans are pretty fed up with the US troops stationed there because all those rapings and everything...
My main point was just that there is only so much things one can justify with the phrase "you owe us, we saved you from the communists/fascists/etc.". Do all countries once saved by the US troops lose their right to sovereignty? 
I didn't compare them to their northern neighbours - most countries in the world are far better off than poor North Koreans. You might be right that South isn't doing so bad right now, but what I meant is that the days of economical supergrowth (read: cheap labour) are over.
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South Koreans are pretty fed up with US troop presence but they are certainly pretty happy to have them there when the North rattles its sabres. But anyway, you're right about the fact that it wasn't an importation of democracy and such that we saw in Japan. I never claimed it was. I claimed that their current status as a free and sovereign nation is a direct result of the security provided by the US for the last 5 plus decades. The support, in military support and training, US military presence, favorable trading agreements with the US, etc, etc, etc is ongoing and one price that any country pays when it chooses to closely allign with another is offering support when the other country needs/wants it.
The South Korean economy is well on its way to successfully transitioning away from just being a source of cheap labor for the west. And that's a good thing. Their economy is significantly more advanced now than it has been at any time in its history. While they still have a long way to go, they have the tools they need to become a significant player in the world. At the end of 2003 South Korea had the world's 12th largest economy. That's better than Canada, Mexico, Spain, Australia and 219 other countries. I'd say that's pretty damned impressive given their relative lack of development just a few decades ago.