Human Rights vs Economic Growth in the Korean Context

Abstract

Cultural heritage and desire for a rapid economic growth have played a pivotal role in forming people's perception of human rights in Korea. Respect for human beings, inherent in traditional values and reinforced later by Western values, has been confronted with the thirst for growth. The thirst for growth, interacted with the need for national security, placed constraints on human rights until 1987, the year of people's resistance. In an era of globalization, Koreans are challenged now to enrich their perception of the human rights, extending the communitarian perspective beyond the narrow boundaries of kinship, regionalism, school ties to embrace the global village on the basis of integrating traditional values and the Western values. A successful integration of these values beyond East and West is the key to building a social order based on solidarity. Such a challenge calls for a solid and systematic education on human rights at each level of education.