Coordination and Capacity-Building in U.S. Aid to South Korea, 1945–1975

Abstract

This chapter examines the dynamic interplay between foreign aid management and capacity development of South Korea (hereinafter referred to as “Korea”) from 1945 to 1975. After its liberation from Japanese rule in 1945, Korea suffered from poverty, war, and underdevelopment during the 1950s. However, in a decade, the Korean government successfully implemented a series of long-term national development plans.1 These were national initiatives that required a high level of state capacity. As Rodriguez (2011: 28) put it, creating effective institutions and promoting bureaucratic efficiency were keys to the successful development. At the core of the Korean developmental state was the highly capable economic bureaucracy, with the Economic Planning Board (EPB) at the helm. The EPB had two critical functions — planning and budgeting — that effectively put it in charge of coordinating the work of different government ministries.