The Leading Role of the State in Industrialization and the Importance of Innovation: Example of South Korea

It is possible to date the history of industrialization back to the 16th century. However, the time period accepted as the beginning of industrialization is the beginning of factory production in England in the second half of the 18th century. Western European countries such as France, Germany, and the Netherlands joined the process in the first half of the 19th century. Later, non-European countries such as Egypt and the USA joined the process. However, Egypt's industrialization process was interrupted by the Baltalimanı Trade Agreement. South Korea also joined the industrialization/development process in the second half of the 20th century. Thus, the capitalist world system continued to spread from Europe to other parts of the world.This study aims to examine South Korea, one of the examples of industrializing countries, within the framework of the Modern World System theory. According to this theory, the capitalist world economy was formed as a result of competition between states. Competition, one of the most important concepts of this theory, is a factor that leads to both the increase in the number of countries and the developments in technology in industrialization. In this context, the importance of innovation and the leading role of the state in the sustainability of competition emerges. As a result of the study, South Korea, which entered the industrialization process at the end of the Second Industrial Revolution with no other resource than labor force, started industrialization with a serious planning process led by the state. It has also reached the position of being a central/industrialized country by focusing on R&D and innovation studies since the 1980s. It has been found that the MDS theory has explanatory power in the industrialization/central country process experienced by South Korea.