Globalization has helped South Korea build a massive, export-driven economy. In the event of a conflict with the North, world trade would feel the fallout.
Times Staff Writer
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. launches one of its new ships about every five days — some towering 15 stories high and stretching the length of three football fields. A highly efficient, super-sized version of an automobile factory, the world’s largest shipyard has 25 massive vessels under construction at any given time, a feat no other country has been able to achieve.
To many South Koreans, the shipyard in this once quaint fishing village is a symbol of the dramatic resurgence from the devastation of the Korean War.
But it also is emblematic of what’s at stake economically, given the increased tensions with North Korea after the communist nation’s recent nuclear test. Barely an hour’s flight away across the demilitarized zone, the North’s army has 8,000 artillery barrels pointed at its neighbor, ready to wipe out much of the economic miracle in the South as well as many lives.
“It’s really remarkable how important the South Korean economy has become,” said Richard J. Ellings, president of the National Bureau of Asian Research in Seattle. “Whether it be cars or mobile phones, there would be serious disruptions. Any conflict would be catastrophic for global trade.”
Two generations ago, living standards in South Korea were among the worst in the world, with workers earning about $70 a year.
South Korea has risen from that humble station to become the third-largest economy in Asia, trailing only Japan and China, and the 10th-largest in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund. The average annual income now: $16,000.
Tensions have eased somewhat since the Oct. 9 nuclear test, but the North’s saber rattling has raised fears about the broader fallout should conflict derail the industrial engine of the South.
It would be felt far beyond the Korean peninsula. In addition to producing 44% of the world’s commercial ships, South Korea is the largest maker of computer memory chips and flat-panel liquid-crystal-display screens.