East+and+Southeast+Asia

Major Developments: Japan and the Pacific Rim

Japan
 * Liberal Democratic Party
 * Gained control of the gov't in 1955
 * No shifts in party administration until 1993
 * From the 1950s onward Japan concentrates on economic growth
 * "Japan incorporated"
 * By 1983 Japan's GNP was equal to that of China, North and South Korea, Taiwan, India, Pakistan, Australia and Brazil combined!
 * Automobile maunfacturing became a major indusrty.

Pacific Rim
 * Korea splits into communist (Soviet influenced) North Korea and democratic (US sponsored) South Korea.
 * North = People's Democratic Republic of Korea (...?)
 * South = Republic of Korea
 * Korean War breaks out
 * Hong Kong is decolonized by the British and returned to China in1997
 * Economies in the Pacific Rim began to explode as well
 * South Korean textile, steel, and automobile (Hyundai) industries boomed, strengthening their economy.