Few countries have transformed themselves as dramatically as South Korea has over the last half-century.
A poor, authoritarian country with annual per capita income of less than $400 has become a vibrant and prosperous democracy, with direct presidential elections, peaceful transfers of power and a per capita income of more than $33,000. But South Korea lately has been grappling with slowing economic momentum, rising political instability and an increasingly fragile security environment. Can the country transform itself again and meet these new challenges?
Begin with the economy. After decades of rapid gross domestic product growth — averaging over 7% in the 1970s-1990s — the economy has slowed, growing by 2% to 3% in recent years. The growth rate is expected to fall further, to 1%, over the next decade.
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