The dual green revolutions in South Korea: Reforestation and agricultural revolution under the authoritarian regime

Abstract

In South Korea, the Green Revolution has been commonly understood as the development and dissemination of new rice varieties (Tongil rice) and the rapid increase of rice yield in the 1970s. However, revolutionary success in agriculture was not the only green revolution South Korea experienced; another green revolution lay in the success of reforestation projects. In the 1970s, South Korea's forest greening was closely related to its agricultural revolution in several ways. Therefore, South Korea's Green Revolution was an intrinsically linked double feature of agriculture and forestry. This two-pronged revolution was initiated by scientific research - yet accomplished by the strong administrative mobilization of President Park Chung Hee's regime. The process of setting goals and meeting them through a military-like strategy in a short time was made possible under the authoritarian regime, known as Yushin, though the administration failed to fully acknowledge scientific expertise in the process of pushing to achieve goals.