The economic development of South Korea is often considered a model for developing
countries. We use 1975 and 1990 data in a general equilibrium framework with a highly
disaggregated sector specification to evaluate the opportunity cost of its agricultural
protection. We show that although agriculture's share of the gross domestic product (GDP)
declined between 1975 and 1990, the cost of agricultural protection, as measured by the
loss in GDP, did not fall. The larger gap between domestic and world prices for the protected …