The Republic of korea's per capita income in 1960 was less than 100 US dollars, but some 40years later in 2007, it has surpassed 20,000 US dollars while the population has also increased from 25 million to almost 50 million. It used to be one of the top five aid-receiving countries in the world, but is now providing ODA (Official Development Assistance) of more than 1 billion US dollars, and will formally be joining the OECD's DAC (Development Assistance Committee) in 2010. This kind of rapid economic development was achieved albeit korea does not have rich natural resources, and famous tourist attractions. Was it miracle? Numerous papers and books were written by economists after rigorous research, but consensus has not yet been reached as to how such a miraculous economic growth was possible. Such an endeavor may be futile since so many factors, both controllable and noncontrollable, are intertwined, as in many socio-economic phenomena.

The Graduate School of Pan-Pacific International Studies(GSP) of Kyung Hee University in Korea has conducted an educational program for foreign government officals in developing countries, with the the purpose of sharing experiences in economic development. Several courses and materials have been developed in the meantime, and a need appeared to consolidate such courses and materials in a coherent manner, and this book is the first-generation offspring of such efforts. Most of the authors have taught courses at GSP, and were also actually involved in the economic policy-making in the early stages retired, but the were kind enough to accept the offer to produce a consolidated text. during the last one and a half years, the authors regularly met and discussed the contents of the book, and tried to streamline their evaluations of the effectiveness of the Korean government polices. Of course, in several places, their views could not be geared toward one direction, nor was such our intention.

This book was not written as a collection of academic papers but as a textbook for students who have interest in the rapid economic growth of Korea.

We tried to make the book readable for those who do not have an economic background, by refraining from using mathematical models but instead sometimes inserting anecdotal stories. Both stories of success and failure have been included. We believe that ultimately this edition will not be the final one; it is to be continuously revised. Indeed, all of the authors of this book now jointly teach a course at GSP, the title of which is "Understanding Korean Economy." The teaching of this course and the revision of the text involves dialogic and raise concerns, and the authors incorporate the feedback into the revision of this book. I really would like to thank all of the authors and students for this interactive communication for the improvement of the book, and hope that this book could serve those who are looking for resource materials in economic development.