Analyzing the Process of Economic Development of South Korea in the light of Adrian Leftwich's theory

The astonishing economic development of South Korea in the four decades, since the end of the Korean War, has surprised many observers and researchers around the world. In less than four decades, South Korea has grown from one of the poorest countries in the world to an industrially advanced country. South Korea's economic development is often referred to as the "Han River Miracle"and has given it the nickname "Asian Tiger". Today, it is the twelfth largest economy in the world and has the fourth largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. This study seeks to answer the question: What were the reasons for the rapid and miraculous economic development of South Korea in the post-World War II period? The hypothesis of this research is that the existence of a development-oriented government in South Korea has been the main reason for the development of this country in the mentioned period. In fact, South Korea's leapfrog development would not have been possible without a development-oriented and elite government determined to thrive and develop economically. Such states have characteristics such as having development-oriented elites, efficient and development-oriented bureaucracy, weak civil society, relative state independence, and strengthening state independence. The theoretical framework of the article is based on the theory of the developmental government of Adrian Leftwich and the method of descriptive-analytical research using library resources, articles, books and prestigious domestic and foreign journals.