It is generally accepted that the Republic of Korea underwent an impressive
economic transition in the past century. In a similar vein, human stature
improved enormously over this same time period. This paper shows that the
height of South Korean men increased drastically from 169 cm in cohorts born
after the Korean War to 175 cm in cohorts born in 1983. South Koreans are
now among the tallest of the entire Asian continent. Moreover, young South
Koreans are also rapidly catching up to the heights of the most economically
prosperous nations. This article also found that social differences based on
height stratified by educational attainment were negligible in South Korea;
interestingly and ironically, this is distinct from socialist North Korea, where
highly educated people were about 1 to 2 cm taller. Rapid economic development
combined with the introduction of nationwide high-protein feeding programs
in primary schools are the likely causes for this remarkable and uniform
growth spurt.