Spared by the Crisis
Ninety percent of Geoje Island’s population depends on the shipbuilding industry. Per capita income is well above the average of the rest of South Korea.The economic crisis forced South Korea to open up and embrace foreign investment. High-tech-based Free economic zones became the machine to stimulate new economic growth.
July 24, 2007
IT all started for Lee Hoo-su three decades ago in Hapcheon, Gyeogsangnam province. A tobacco farmer with a wife and two children, he was worn down by the constant burden of poverty. Their life was one of constant scarcity. “It was really difficult to support the family during that period. My income was very small,” Lee told Tempo in late June.
Eventually, this economic pressure led them to make a radical change of direction in their lives.
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