[This was a response memo in my Politics of Development class at the Harvard Kennedy School] As a student of industrial policy I have always been fascinated by the so called “East Asian miracle”, and South Korea stands above the rest in its ability to rapidly industrialize through export-led growth. Scholars of South Korean industrialization such as Robert Wade and Alice Amsden have emphasized the role of the state and political leadership in orchestrating this ‘miracle’. Park Chung Hee led South Korea during its formative years from 1961 to 1979. I draw from the book Korea’s Development under Park Chung Hee: Rapid Industrialization, 1961–79 by Kim Hyung-A (2004) to analyze Park’s ‘guided capitalism’ through which he planned and managed economic development using state-led intervention in industrial enterprises. Kim Hyung-A’s study is based on personal interviews with Park’s principal technocrats in the 1970s as well as archival documents from both Korea and the USA. Seve...