Dualized modernization: USAID and the educational television in South Korea

ABSTRACT

After World War II, educational television became a significant tool for improving the quality of schooling worldwide. The use of educational television was starting to be considered a modernized way for developing the educational system in many countries including South Korea. Drawing on the archival sources of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Korean government, this article examines the USAID’s educational aid programs in South Korea by focusing on the establishment of educational television. It first covers the rise of modernization theory as a framework for national development by focusing on educational television in less-industrialized countries. The second part explores how educational television in South Korea was shaped by the international interaction. Finally, this study argues that the case of educational television in South Korea reflects the dynamics of dualized modernization, in which South Korean adapt U.S. educational television to their own needs.

KEYWORDS:

• U.S. Agency for International Development
• educational television
• dualized modernization
• Cold War
• less industrialized countries

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).