Examines the nature of South Korea's economic success, and asks whether the country's current prosperity is inextricably bound up with political repression. Kearney also considers the threat that such an economically successful and authoritarian system poses to the West.

In just three decades, despite endemic political corruption, the continuous state of hostility with its northern neighbour, and the effects of years of foreign oppression, South Korea has achieved an economic miracle. The South Korean workforce, more disciplined and hard-working than the Japanese, is the key to the transformation, and is now becoming a model for other emergent Far-Eastern nations. But the economic success has been achieved at a cost. A rigid authoritarianism pervades all aspects of society, crushing all dissent and protest. This book examines the nature of South Korea's economic success, and asks whether the country's current prosperity is inextricably bound up with political repression. It also considers the threat that such an economically successful and politically undesirable system poses to the West.