South Korea & Taiwan's Explosive Economic Growth

In one course that I took at Yonsei University, ISM2107 Politics and Business in Korea, the professor had a book list that included this very awesome book by Robert Wade called Governing the Market:
Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialization.

This book is incredible in that is sheds light on the explosive economic growth of Taiwan and South Korea.  This has been a hot topic in the field of economics.

From my understanding, both South Korea and Taiwan had authoritarian governments that engineered their perspective economies to become EOE (export oriented economies).  They were able to go about their planned economies with closed markets due to a very unique socio-political situations in both Taiwan and South Korea, and also in part due to the Cold War.  The USA opened its markets to South Korea and Taiwan despite their closed and governed markets combined with totalitarian state control.  As both Taiwan and South Korea were U.S. allies in the fight against communism, USA tolerated to some extent lack of democracy or free market economies.

Other developing nations, such as those in Latin America and Africa are naturally interested in the surprising growth of Taiwan and South Korea in hopes of replicating some of the success.  I think this book is a must read for anyone interested in Far East Asia or developing economies.

Additionally, given our turbulent economic times, as we (society) try to search for new political-economic tools, such as breathing life into certain struggling sectors, this book is an invaluable resource.

Studying at Yonsei

As an experienced student who studied at Yonsei through a study-abroad program, I wanted to see if perhaps I might offer some information for others that decided to journey to Korea.  I hope that it useful...

Undergraduate students that come to Yonsei will undoubtedly find themselves at Underwood International College, which is currently near the Shinchon and Daeshin border in Seoul, Korea.  Students have to take a Korean course and can enroll in Underwood courses, or other courses at the university taught in English.

Korean Language Requirement

Foreign students are required to take Korean language courses and so must attend Yonsei KLI, which is 20 hours a week of class time and 6 units.  Fortunately, there a little known secret for students that might want to opt out of this.  You can take a 0-unit Korean course that is usually offered to graduate students, but Underwood allows undergraduates to enroll in this course to meet their Korean language requirement.

If your focus is not on Korean language, I really recommend this.  If your focus is on the Korean language, then I would recommend coming to Korea on your own terms and try to get into Sogang's  ELEC program or another program of your choosing.

Underwood Courses

There are a small number of courses on topics about Korean culture and history.  These courses have the IEE number, such as IEE3107 Pre-Modern Korean History or IEE3220 Topics on Korean Language and Culture.  Most of these courses are fairly easy: show up, do minimal effort, and get an easy A.  Other courses, such as the economic and political courses, like ISM4508 Chinese Politics and Foreign Policy  or ISM2107 Politics and Business in Korea, are extremely challenging, and only a limited number of students receive an "A" grade, due to relative grading system in those courses.

My recommendation is to make the best effort to get something out of the experience, but don't take the go overboard and be too serious.  It is good to get out and meet people, especially Korean locals so that you can learn first hand about the culture outside the classroom.

Business Courses

A number of courses in the business college are taught in English, and many Korean students want to get into the course, because they have absolute grading, meaning the instructor is free to give out all "A" grades, should the students do that well.  The relative grading system, for business courses taught in Korean, only permit a small number of "A" grades to be awarded, so despite one's individual effort, the students may not earn the grade they deserve. I think this teaches the wrong message in life personally, but that's the system.

For the classes taught in English, like BIZ1102 Organizational Behavior, BIZ1101 Principles of Accounting,  BIZ2120 Marketing, etc. they will allow up to 6 foreign students to enroll.  Thus, it is quite competitive to get in these courses.  The quality of education varies, from being an utter waste of time to excellent quality with innovative professors that have passionate and engaging lectures.  Some of these courses can be quite challenging, even more so than courses in USA, and will require a lot of effort to get a good grade.  I found myself losing 2 months of any life to complete essays, research projects, and studying for the finals, but I felt it was well worth the effort, considering what I learned and the discipline I gained from the experience.

Continuing Pursuits of Education

I wanted to spin off this area for all pursuits of knowledge in my life, regardless of the topic.  And thus this begins...

...About myself briefly and why maybe I might be interesting...

I don't want to create a sob story, as I know others are in far worse predicament.  I came from humble backgrounds and always wanted to get an education, and now I'm doing it.  From high school, I started working in computers quite successfully, and I found a way to make the transition from work-to-school.  It is really a challenging adventure.

In my case, I found I was just rotting away, not really living life.  Then one day I left my work, and I said I'm going to go to college and study abroad.  And sure enough that is what I did: I completed the GE at a local community college, transferred to a state college, and did a 1-year study abroad in Asia.  I decided that I wanted to live life with passion, not just merely exist.  I didn't want to get older wondering what happened to my youth and wondering what I could have done in life.