Enthusiasm for Education is Driving Force Behind Korea’s Human Talent

Enthusiasm for Education is Driving Force Behind Korea’s Human Talent

 

“If they can do that in South Korea, we can do it right here in the United States of America.” U.S. President Barack Obama frequently lauds South Korea’s education of its children. He often makes comments praising Korea’s education system and the parents that are extremely education oriented.

 

 

 

Juho Lee, minister of education, science and technology sees those comments as a reflection of Koreans’ strong passion for education. This passion led to a large amount of investment in education by the private sector and thus laid the foundation for Korea's ascent into a hub of high quality human resources.

 

In a recent report assessing the competitiveness of human resource development, Korea ranked at the top in private sector spending on education among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member nations. It is a stark contrast to public investment in education which ranked a lowly 22nd among the 34 OECD members. “The combined public and private investment in education was the second highest among the OECD nations,” said Professor Hunseok Oh of Seoul National University who headed the research. “The disparity is huge. It shows just how much ordinary people open their wallets for education.”

 

The country’s strength as a human resource hub is also highlighted by a significant investment in research and development. The ratio of R&D expenditure by both the public and private sectors to GDP is 3.16%, only trailing Israel (4.1%), Japan (3.21%) and Finland (3.21%).

 

Korea also marked dominant positions in a comparison of the technological environment of OECD nations. The country ranked second in the percentage of broadband internet subscribers compared to population, 10th in the percentage of internet users among its population and 15th in telecommunication prices. Korea's industrial environment was also excellent as it came in first place when it comes to actively promoting the high-tech industry in areas such as information technology, biotechnology and the environment. However, when it comes to the creative industry which encompasses industries producing cultural content including the performing arts, design and publishing, Korea was near the bottom at 32nd.

 

To become a true human talent hub, Korea also needs to make improvements in its social capital. The country’s birth rate which is one of the lowest in the world at 1.19 children per woman (ages 15 to 49) needs to pick up. “Considering the fact that Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are densely populated countries despite having close to no natural resources, it is clear that population increase is not a social burden but an essential resource for a nation’s development,” said Oh.

The low percentage of people in creative and professional careers such as science, engineering, research, art, music and culture is another weakness that needs to make ground. Workers in this area were only 4.18% of the population while the OECD average was 6.3%.

Korea needs to cultivate a more trusting and tolerant work culture. Trust between individuals ranked 25th, trust in social systems 31st, tolerance 28th and voter turnout 34th.