To convince Americans and others to buy Japanese products, Japanese firms had to produce goods that were cheaper and better than their American-made counterparts. As a result, the export industries in Japan became enormously productive and supercompetitive. Productivity grew, and three decades after World War II, Japan became one of the richest countries in the world.
South Korea, one of the great Asian success stories even with its crisis in the late 1990s, had very high barriers to trade until the 1990s, and its early development strategy did not include opening its domestic market to foreign goods. However, through its export sector, South Korea has participated fully in global markets, and this participation has been a key to its success.