East Asia has been recording remarkable economic growth rates and is
one of the main focuses in developmental research. Technological progress
and its application to commercial production lie at the heart of the
industrialization of East Asia. The South Korean economy has been
transformed from periphery to semiperiphery, and the possibility of
becoming a core economy remains.1 There have been intensive debates on
the role of the state, market and international factors in the economic
growth of East Asia.