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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND WATERWhile the Government had commandeered the economy in theprevious decades, with the growth of the economy and the developmentof the private sector, the Government took on a lesser role,ushering in liberalization in the 1980s. Along with liberalization, themain economic policy was maintaining price stability. Through thesepolicies, the Korean economy continued to enjoy high growth, achievinga low of 6.8 per cent in 1989 and a high of 12.3 per cent in 1987. 9The latter years of the 1980s saw a change in policy from pricestability to preference for growth – a change that served as the policycontext of the following decade. Within this policy environment,regulations were lifted for Korea’s large corporations, which took ona large volume of loans in their aggressive expansion attempts in thecontext of globalization. This economic modus operandi was rudelyinterrupted by the Asian financial crisis of 1997, as a result of whichKorea submitted to loans from the International Monetary Fund andtheir associated conditionalities. Following the crisis and from the2000s on, Korea has continued to grow to its currently respectedstatus, though not at the same growth rates it achieved in the past.An integral part of Korea’s development was the development ofits water resources. Water resources development has a number ofobjectives which may be prioritized according to a country’s immediateneeds. In Korea’s case, building basic water infrastructure was theprimary objective early on from the mid-1960s through to the 1980s. In1973, the Soyanggang Dam was constructed and in 1977, the AndongDam. These and other multipurpose dams secured water, generatedhydropower and reduced damage from floods. Securing water was animportant goal, as demonstrated by the tripling of total water consumptionfrom 5 billion cubic metres in 1965 to 15 billion cubic metres in1980. 10 The 1980s was a period of unbalanced growth and water qualityWater storage and gross national income in Korea25,000GNIWater source10,000degradation. However, following the phenol accident in1991 and the environmental awareness it raised, waterpolicy began to seriously consider water quality in additionto quantity. Following this trend of environmentalawareness, water policy since 2000 has been directed toeco-friendly and sustainable water management. This hasinvolved building medium-sized and small dams ratherthan large ones, water demand management, and restoringrivers. Korea, through its Ministry of Land, Transport andMaritime Affairs (now the Ministry of Land, Infrastructureand Transport) and K-water, has managed to reduce flooddamage by a factor of 10 through the Four Major RiversRestoration Project. 11 Moreover, Korea has secured asix times larger water supply compared to 1965. 12 Thissecuring of water supply has important implicationsfor economic growth, as water is an essential resourcein economic activity. The amount of water that can bestored serves as an upper limit to industrial output, whichdirectly contributes to national income.These policies have occurred within the institutionalframework for water resources management provided byvarious plans. 13 The National Territorial Plan and theNational Environmental Plan, which were directed by theFive-Year Economic and Social Development Plan, arethose under which more specific water plans have beendrafted. The National Water Resources Plan, the NationalWater Supply Plan and the National Sewerage Plan fallunder these two plans. The Long-term Plan for DamConstruction falls under the National Water ResourcesPlan, the Maintenance Plan for Water Supply under theNational Water Supply Plan, and the Maintenance Planfor Sewerage under the National Sewerage Plan. Thus,the institutional framework for water resources managementin Korea consists of three areas.Working within this framework are a number ofbodies that implement the management of water20,0008,000Korea’s institutional framework for water administrationGNI (US$)15,00010,0006,0004,000Water storage (106m 3 )The nationalterritorialplanThe nationalenvironmentalplanThe nationalwater resourcesplanThe nationalwater supply planThe nationalsewerage plan5,0002,000001960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010The long-termplan fordam constructionThe maintenanceplan forwater supplyThe maintenanceplan forsewerageYearThe amount of water stored serves as an upper limit to industrial outputSource: K-waterSource: Min, The Role of the State and the Market, p268, figure 36[ 268 ]