TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgement
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Notes and References
CHAPTER TWO
Political and Diplomatic Relations
Notes and References-
CHAPTER THREE
Social-Cultural Relations
Notes and References
CHAPTER FOUR
Economic Relations
Notes and References
CHAPTER FIVE
Summary
Conclusion
Bibliography
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Present -day Nigeria is a creation of British
colonialism. The history of the country can conveniently be divided into three
eras viz: Pre-Colonial, Colonial and Post - Independence. The pre-colonial
history of Nigeria might have started over 4,000 B.C years ago when the
earliest inhabitants led the way in peopling the region. Waves of migration at
different dates helped to increase the population in subsequent years and by
the late stone age every part of the country had been Inhabited, The indigenous
people led their life until the advent of European scramble for colonies in
West African, which began in earnest in the latter half of the 19th century
and culminated in the British Colonization of Nigeria. With the fostering of
British in Nigeria however, the colonial authorities naturally initiated series
of socioeconomic and political policies which ensured the well-being of Are
Metropolis, but ran at tangent to the interest of the Nigerian people. What inevitably derived from the British attitude was
Nationalist Aggression - which particularly gathered momentum after the Second
World War and was to facilitate the way to Nigeria's independence on October 1,
1960. Although industrialization has been taking place in Nigeria with varying
degree of success since independence, the nature of the country's economy
remains largely that of a colonial one which is preponderantly based on the
export of primary produce like cocoa, oil palm, groundnut and crude oil to
essentially Europe and North America, and the import of manufactured goods from
these regions.
The Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as South
Korea forms the southern part of the Korean peninsula, in eastern Asia. To The
north, Separated by a frontier which roughly follows the 38th parallel, is the
country's only neighbour, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea i.e. North
Korea. To the West is the Yellow Sea, to the South is the East China Sea, and
to the east is the Sea of Japan.
The Republic of Korea is a post-Second World War
creation, which came about owing principally to the ideological differences of
the Americans and the Soviet. To be sure, Korea had been ruled by a single
government for almost thirteen centuries, after Shilla absorbed its two
neighbours; Koguryo and Paekche, into its administrative domain and unified the
peninsula in the Seventh Century. Korea subsequently remained an independent
monarch until it was occupied by Japanese forces in 1905 and formally annexed
by Japan in 1910, when the Korean Emperor was deposed. However, owing to the
fact that the Japanese Government was mainly interested in the economic
exploitation of Korea, a number of repressive and obnoxious policies were
formulated and executed in Korea, which immediately stimulated the growth of
nationalism among Koreans. It is interesting to note nonetheless that the
independence movement in Korea was not actually successful, because it was due
to Japan's surrender in August 1945, ending the Second World
War, that Korea in fact became freed from the Colonial yoke of Japan.
Korean liberation did not however translate into
immediate independence for the Koreans because their efforts to establish an
independent state and government which will have under its control the whole of
the Korean peninsula were frustrated by the US in the South and the Soviet
Union in the North. Consequently, Korea was divided at latitude 38° N, and the
Southern half was proclaimed the Republic of Korea on August 15, 1948, with Dr.
Syngman Rhee as the Country's first President. Though sharing colonial experience
with Nigeria, South Korea's Post-Independence economic development follows a
completely different path from that of Nigeria. Over the last three decades the
Republic of Korea has achieved what is widely acclaimed as the "economic
miracle on the Han-gang River. Since Korea embarked on economic development in
earnest in 1962, its economy has grown at one of the fastest paces in the
world. As a result, South Korea which was for a long time one of the World Societies, has
emerged as an upper middle income industrializing country and fast.
OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
The aim of this study is to examine the relationship
between Nigeria and South Korea especially in the areas of political, economic
and social relations. This work will also be used to enlightened and bring to
focus the relationship between the two countries and will also suggest more way
of strengthening the relationship.
SCOPE OF STUDY
The scope of the study will critically examined the
following areas:
The scope of this study shall cover between 1985 and
2000 which marked an era of an unprecedented co-operation between Nigeria and
the Republic of Korea covers:
i.
Origin of Nigeria- South Korea
relations.
ii.
Aspects of socio-political and
economic ties.
iii.
Seeking better ways of improving the
Nigeria - Korean political, economic, cultural and social ties.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In the course of the research, materials will be
collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary source will rely
more on oral interviews conducted to get the opinion of renowned personalities
on the issue of resource control or from individual in the region.
Similarly too, secondary source of information will
equally be adopted in the study. These include information and data generated
from library research, published and unpublished materials, official gazettes,
government publications, academic journals, newspapers, and periodical among
others,
LIMITATION OF STUDY
This study is limited to available materials and facts as at the time of this study. Also
financial difficulties and the constraints of time due to deadline may add to
the limitations.
LITERATURE REVIEW
George Obiozor's work Nigeria and South Korea: 1980
- 1985, appears to be the only study to date that specifically and
comprehensively treats Nigeria's Economic, Cultural and Political relations
with South Korea. Although the work covers the period between 1980 and 1985, it
remains a fact file on Nigerian - South Korean relations. The author started by
briefly making mention of the Korean miracle that makes South Korean attractive
to many Third World Countries, including Nigeria. Nigeria - South Korea
relations in the five years examined by Obiozor's article, have three
distinguishable characteristics: The first being economic, the second is
socio-cultural and the third is political, in that order of importance. In fact, the greatest emphasis in the relations
between the two countries was on economic ties.
According to Segun Johnson in his work he argued
that within the first five years of the relationship, a number of trade and
economic agreements were concluded between Nigeria and South Korea, and the
volume of trade rose geometrically. Also, a Korea-Nigeria Joint Commission to
facilitate Economic and Technical Cooperation was inaugurated, as well as the
initiation of joint projects between Korean businesses and Federal and State Governments
of Nigeria and some private businessmen, and these projects run into millions
of dollars.
In the area of Cultural ties, the work pointed out
the significance of socio-cultural relations between countries went and on to
cite examples of such important and useful aspect of International relations in
Nigeria's relations with Korea. Both countries are said to have engaged in the
exchange of Sport and traditional dance groups, and there was the invitation of
several Nigerian personalities, including scholars and cultural or sports
leaders to South Korea at different times, and there has been an instance of a
Korean being honoured with a chieftaincy title in Oyo State. Finally, the work
dwells on the political and diplomatic relations between Nigeria and South
Korea. It was shown that relations in this area preceded the first two i.e.
economic and cultural, but it was later overshadowed by the first two. For
instance, the high point of the political and diplomatic relations between the
two countries was reached in August 1982, when President Chun Doo-Haven of the
Republic of Korea paid a four-day official visit to Nigeria.
As mentioned already, the work explicitly gives a
comprehensive and up-to-date account of Nigerian South Korea economic, cultural
and political relations in the period it considered. However, one would like to
add that the work inadvertently left out an important aspect of Nigeria's
economic relations with South Korea, that is, Korea direct investments policy
in Nigeria. This Korean policy has led to establishment of
various Korean outfits in Nigeria, which have provided invaluable goods and
services for Nigerians, provided employment and training for some others, and
have served as sources of revenue to the Nigerian Government.
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