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Showing posts with the label European Crisis

How South Korea Made Me Shameful of My Country and Other Things to Learn from them

It's hard to imagine: South Korea was almost bankrupt 15 years ago in 1998.  Today it boosts the 12th highest per capita GDP ( Purchasing Power Parity ), way above rich countries like Canada, Australia, Belgium, Sweden and including, yes, Singapore.  South Korea also ranks 4th out of 183 countries on Goldman Sachs' Growth Environment Score, which means that they did not sacrifice the environment for growth. Bear in mind that this country of 60 million Oriental people is still at a state of war with its neighbour nuclear-arms infested North Korea.  Also note that South Korea was almost devastated from the 3-year Korean War in 1950-1953, plus the exploitation by Japan for 50 years up to World War II. How did the Koreans did it?  I was in Korea for a one-week holiday and from I gathered at the museums, streets and institutions, there are 5 factors that we all can learn from them: Self-Sacrifice - the Koreans sacrificed their personal belongings to rescue theie c...