South Koreans had problems managing their country when they were freed from the Japanese in 1945. Japanese managers had run things, at high and low levels, during their decades of occupation.
The US tried to keep Japanese managers in place, until the South Koreans could learn the ropes.
Understandably, the S Koreans did not want their former oppressors to play a role in running their free country, even if they were more proficient.
Even if the [US] occupation forces had arrived [in S Korea] with a carefully laid economic plan, the situation would have been difficult ...[snip]
The problems were compounded by the fact that most of Korea's mines and industries had been owned and operated by Japan. As the United States military government let the 700,000 Japanese depart from South Korea in the months following the start of the American occupation, almost all of the mines and factories--now enemy properties vested in the military government--were without managers, technicians, and capital resources. This situation led to severe problems of unemployment and material shortages.