Conclusion The Korean experience with massive infrastructure investment has important lessons to teach the world about costs and benefits. Where in the United States, the sticker shock of a large project is enough to make it politically untouchable, South Korea has pushed forward. Their projects are often successful, on time, and on budget, because they are rarely marred by bureaucracy and politics, even when government led. The establishment of special organizations to oversee construction and operations is not unique in the world, but is not often utilized in the United States. Americans can easily point to Boston’s Big
Dig as a reason to distrust large projects, which finished years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. In addition, the Interstate Highway System, once the US’s engineering showcase, is today congested and falling into disrepair with few plans to address the problems. In addition, a period of austerity and decreased spending has led to a general aversion to spending public money, with infrastructure project being common targets for cost savings. Americans tend to see such projects as an expensive purchase, rather than an investment, and the link between well functioning infrastructure and economic
Image Citations
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development has not been accepted in American politics and public discourse as it has in other countries. Koreans in contrast see their world-class infrastructure as a source of national pride that has paid off with unprecedented economic growth. South Korea’s willingness for action and advancement in general has surely been the key to the country’s phenomenal success. The Korean model shows that large projects do not need to be disastrously run and embarrassingly expensive – it simply requires streamlined organization and a common desire for results.
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