Imagine your Korea-reflections (4)

We of course sacrifice for our families but how about self-sacrifice for our country?

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.

Read more:  https://tribune.net.ph/2023/11/imagine-your-korea-reflections-4/