This final installment of my South Korea sojourn should rightly end with reflections. Why? I cannot help but wonder how our own situation has turned out to be quite different from that of Korea. I am referring, of course, to the significant disparity in our respective economic development.

Our GDP per capita is at a distant $3,623 compared to Korea’s $33,643. We have been languishing since 1976 to be elevated to a lower middle-income country, while South Korea (SoKor) was already counted among the developed countries of the OECD as early as 1996.

Our infrastructure is nowhere near South Korea’s. Seoul has 1,262 kilometers of subways that operate like clockwork, while, if we are to believe our government’s pronouncements, we are still six years away from our 33-kilometer subway from Parañaque to Valenzuela. They have a rail network covering 4,285 kilometers while our operational rail system is down to a measly 129.85 kilometers as we retrogressed from a high of 533 kilometers.

Our internet mobile speed is 35 megabits per second, while SoKor’s is 202.61. For broadband, our download speed is 71.85 compared to their 212.57.

So why such a big disparity? After all, we share a lot of similarities. Both our countries are situated in Asia. Both our countries had colonial overlords. Spain, US and Japan for us, while the Mongols, Manchuria, China and Japan took turns invading and occupying Korea. Both our countries experienced the ravages of war. Manila was devastated during the last days of Japanese rule, while Korea was laid to waste when North Korea’s Kim Il Sung invaded the South. Both our countries are traditionally spiritual. We are the bastion of Christianity in Asia, while Koreans mainly practice Shamanism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity.

Insofar as family is concerned, both Filipinos and Koreans would sacrifice anything for the family’s sake. We have millions of OFWs toiling abroad to provide the means for their children’s education, while Koreans endure long hours of work to provide for their children’s future. Korean parents are known to spend lavishly on tutoring, particularly for English lessons, to enable their children to be accepted in SoKor’s schools or, failing that, to be admitted to universities abroad.

If we have so many similarities as a people and as a country, what could possibly account for our different fates? I certainly would not claim to be a sociologist, but I have some guesses.

Could it be perhaps our colonial history? We were under the Spanish for over 300 years so we must have imbibed somehow their habits. Aren’t Spaniards notoriously known for their siesta time marked by long lunch breaks perhaps induced by the midday heat ? Could that have led to our people generally being regarded as indolent since our heat can be quite oppressive? In contrast, SoKor has four seasons which include winter, and pleasant spring and autumn weather.  Could this perhaps be more conducive to working longer hours?

How about the trait of self-sacrifice?  We of course sacrifice for our families but how about self-sacrifice for our country? In 1998, at the height of the Asian Financial Crisis when SoKor was neck deep in foreign exchange debt to the tune of $304 billion, the Korean populace responded to the government’s appeal to donate their gold. Amazingly, 3.51 million people donated $2.13B enabling SoKor to pay off its IMF emergency relief debt. I wonder if we could be counted on to do something similar for our country?

Finally, there is the matter of leadership. SoKor has had a turbulent history of leadership changes marked by violent coup d’etats, autocratic rule and prison jail terms for ex-presidents. Park Chung Hee, an Army general, grabbed power from Syngman Rhee but was assassinated 18 years later.

Another Army general, Chun Doo Hwan, seized power and ruled as an unelected strongman. Chun’s handpicked successor, another Army general, Roh Tae Woo, was democratically elected but subsequently jailed after he lost in the succeeding presidential elections. Other presidents jailed for corruption were Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak.

As a surprising footnote, Koreans apparently now view strongman Park Chung Hee as the leader most responsible for the economic success of the country. Does this suggest that the economic wellbeing of a country, particularly one that is struggling to get its footing, has a direct correlation to autocracy?

On reflection, I guess there really isn’t any straightforward answer to these questions. Perhaps it is just our unenviable fate that we continue to be in search of the right blueprint that will finally allow us to break through.

Until next week… OBF!

For comments, email bing_matoto@yahoo.com.