While the North has been run by a rigid totalitarian government, where the standard of living is low, even in comparison to other countries in Asian, the South has industrialized and prospered vastly since the 1960's, under a series of relatively authoritarian regimes (Hoare, 1988).

Confucianism is the core philosophical belief of South Korea, though a large percentage of the population is nominally Christian or non-religious (Handbook of Korea, 1987). The philosophy promotes the idea of consensus, both group and national, as opposed to the emphasis on individualism in the West, and particularly the US. This manifests itself in a greater affinity for authoritarianism, as opposed to the conflicts and divisiveness of Western-style democracies. It also helps explain the "company unions" where strikes, until the 1980's at least, were relatively rare. In addition Confucianism inculcates reverence for education in general and teachers in particular. Also, a str

ong work ethic and self-discipline are tenets of the philosophy, which encourages South Koreans to work hard and excel.

From its inception, POSCO has been profitable, which runs counter to the experience of most such enterprises in the world (Amsden, 1989). The main reasons cited are that: its plant and equipment have always been state-of-the-art; labor costs that are the lowest of any international steel producer; plant construction that has always kept on, or ahead of, schedule, thereby minimizing this costly expenditure; and considerable subsidization by the government (like financing, roads, harbors, electricity). And while the latter renders the term "Profitable" ambiguous, nevertheless POSC0 has remained cost-competitive with Japan, the world's premier steel producer. This is attributable mainly to South Korea's low wages because, on an employee-hour-per-ton basis, both Japan and the US steel industries have lower figures than South Korea. In addition, it must be noted that the steel industry of South Korea is "protected" by a 25 percent tariff on imports (except, the steel is used for products that are exported, in which case there is a partial rebate).

South Korea's steel industry provides a textbook model for both developed and developing countries. With respect to the latter, South Korea has shown how a resource-poor nation can industrialize itself and prosper through appropriate state support and the education and training its labor force. Like Great Britain and Japan, who also were devastated by, and recovered from, the turmoil of war, Korea also provides proof that human, not natural, resources are the key to present and future success in the world economy. South Korea has shown that rigorous employee training and education is a highly effective way to keep old, basic industries like steel viable. Such employee preparation, combined with industriousness and a good work ethic, makes fo