Capitalism Serves South Korea Well

Floods and other natural disasters alone have not brought North Korea to the brink of famine, South Korea’s ambassador to the United States said Friday.

Kuh Woo Park said guidance and assistance from the United States over the last 50 years have enabled his country to overcome those setbacks, while North Korea has had to appeal for emergency food aid.

That’s the difference, he said, between socialism and capitalism.

“What I’m telling you is the value of democracy and a free-market economy,” he told business leaders in brief remarks at the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce.

Park, the first ambassador to visit the city in several years, is on a three-day stopover after attending an international conference in Seattle. He was joined by Kim Kewin, consul general to that city.

Park outlined the expanding trade ties between South Korea and the U.S.

He said trade between the two countries will reach $60 billion this year, with Washington accounting for 20 percent of that total.

And South Korea will pass Germany to become the fourth largest market for U.S. goods, he said, trailing only Canada, Japan and Great Britain.

The relationship had humble beginnings.

After World War II per capita income in South Korea was probably less than $100, Park said, putting the nation among the world’s poorest.

He said per capita income now exceeds $10,000, and South Korea’s economy ranks 11th in gross domestic product.

North Koreans, who once considered the southerners “country boys,” earn only $700 a year, he said.

The U.S. was among several nations who recently committed $15 million in food and other assistance to North Korea while it awaits a new harvest.

Although one million soldiers, including more than 30,000 from the U.S., confront each other across the demilitarized zone that separates north from south Korea, Park said the countries will eventually be recombined.

“It is not a matter of if, but a matter of when,” he said.

Then, with a population of 65 million, a reunified Korea will become an even bigger market for U.S. goods, he said.

“Korea is a loyal friend in Asia,” Park said. “We will not forget what you have done for us.”

Park himself pledged to return to Washington, D.C., to advise other ambassadors to visit Spokane. He will return some time in the future with his family, he said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo