Regionalism in the South Korean Job Market

K OREAN SOCIETY underwent a marked transformation in its industrial and urban structure during the 1970s. Under governmental policies designed to achieve maximum economic growth, the annual GNP growth rate averaged nearly 10 percent between 1970 and 1980 and the per capita GNP increased from $234 in 1970 to $1,481 in 1980.1 In 1970, manufacturing employed 14 percent of the nation's workforce but by 1980 the figure had reached 22 percent. In the meantime, the number of workers outside agriculture, forestry and fishing increased from 50 to 62 percent of the workforce and the urban population jumped from 41 to 57 percent of the country's population. People also became much more educated. By 1980 the illiteracy rate among the population between ages 6 and 60 had almost been wiped out. In that year only 7 percent of the 6 to 60 year-old population did not receive any formal education. The proportion of college graduates in the 25 to 29 age group increased from 8.7 percent to 10.4 percent among males and from 3.2 percent to 6.0 percent among females between 1970 and 1980.2 During this period, Seoul received a disproportionate share of the benefits. The nation's major banking, financial, and corporate headquarters are located there, as are 40 percent of the nation's white collar jobs.3 Three-quarters of the nation's commercial transaction take place in Seoul. In 1980, 59 percent of the city's households lived in owner-occupied homes; 92 percent owned a television set; 60 percent had a refrigerator and 37 per

Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic geography · Economics · Geography · Inequality · Political science · Politics · Regionalism (politics) · Korean Urban and Social Studies