What Advanced Economies Can Learn from Korea: A View from Australia

South Korea stands as one of the most remarkable cases of latecomer industrialisation, long admired as a model for developing nations seeking rapid catch-up. Yet far less attention has been given to the lessons Korea’s transformative trajectory might hold for advanced economies. This chapter reorients the lens, distilling ten lessons from Korea’s experience over the past two decades for policymakers in ‘developed’ countries like my own, now grappling with a complex range of challenges from deindustrialisation to geostrategic rivalry and the climate crisis. At the same time, the chapter identifies major obstacles to lesson-learning in advanced liberal market economies, including ideological constraints, institutional fragmentation, entrenched path dependencies, and political capture. It concludes by advancing some practical strategies to overcome these barriers. Korea should not be treated as a blueprint, but as a mirror through which policymakers in ‘developed’ countries can challenge prevailing assumptions, expand their strategic repertoire, and re-imagine the role of the state in navigating today’s complex economic and geopolitical terrain.