South Korean industrialization was far more difficult and problematic, from both an economic and political standpoint, than those who celebrate it are willing to admit. More specifically, in addition to rapid growth, [Park Chung Hee's] economic strategy also produced an unbalanced and unstable economy. Moreover, because of the oppressive nature of the growth process, Park's strategy generated its own political opposition. Growth itself thus created the need for ever greater state repression.

--- Martin Hart-Landsberg, The Rush To Development: Economic Change and Political Struggle in South Korea (USA: Monthly Review Press, 1993), 164