2 - Enforcing "Cashless Society" through Conscription in Developmental States: Case Studies from Singapore and South Korea

Singapore and South Korea achieved rapid economic growth through the ‘developmental state’ model. Two states utilized every resource within their territories, from manpower to natural resources, by giving state bureaucrats control over them. Among the efforts of controlling development in a top-down manner, conscription played a pivotal role in mobilizing human resources for the state. It has been also used for promoting social mixing among constituents and constructing a standardized economic population envisioned by the state. In other words, the military standardized not only the ideologies and worldviews of the conscripted youth but also their lifestyles. This paper focuses on how conscription affects the latter, especially their economic mindset. 

Conscription also played a role in establishing the foundation for the 'cashless society' pursued by the two countries. Young, conscripted men experience a cashless economic lifestyle and financial systems in the military and become familiar with them while in the service. This study aims to examine when and why the governments of these two nations began to promote the use of non-cash payment methods through conscription and what the ideal 'economic population' model they sought to cultivate entailed.
By investigating the initial background and evolving conditions that led two developed countries in Asia to utilize military conscription to increase the use of non-cash payment methods among the general population, this paper will argue that the role of conscription in developmental states brings a transformation in the economic mindset of the people.