Economic Situation in Korea in Late-1997

This research examines the economic situation in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in late-1997. The economic situation in Korea in late-1997 did not develop overnight, although media reports frequently imply that such is the case. Rather, the current economic situation in Korea is the product of decades of social, political, and economic policy and management.

The Long-Term Development of the Problem

Important social goals of successive Korean governments have been to extend meaningful education to all citizens of the country and to provide high standards of health care for all citizens. The government also has sought to improve the economic welfare of all citizens.

A middle-class has emerged in Korea as the country has developed rapidly since the end of the Korean War. The professional and managerial classes in Korea are relevant in the contemporary period, as are business owners. The ranks of industrial workers also have grown rapidly. Women in Korea, however, continue to be denied equal opportunity in employment.

Korea has relied heavily on the development of human capital through education. In this approach, the concept of human capital is substituted for a raw population variable. In this model, human capital is defined as embodied knowledge and skills. The underlying assumption of this model is that, as economic development depends on advances in technological and scientific knowledge, development presumably depends on the accumulation of human ca

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t is made within a Western perspective of political values. While dissidence is strong in Korea, dissatisfaction with the political environment is far from being widespread. As Kausikan pointed-out, many Asian populations value order and stability far more than they value the right to act on individual convictions. The collectivist approach to societal functioning wherein the welfare of the whole is considered to be supreme to the rights of the individual is strong in Korea. In Korea, however, dissidents perceive that the government and the corporations are not acting from a collectivist approach, but rather are acting primarily in their own interests. Protectionist Policies and Favoritism Although Korea was one of the "four little tigers," the government was heavily protectionist (non tariff and tariff barrier) protection and experienced periodic balance of payments crises. Political support for import substituting policies by manufacturing and ideological lobby groups made it all but impossible for the Korean government to dismantle trade barriers. Korea eventually introduced protection offsets in the form of "quantitative restriction and tariff exemptions and drawbacks on inputs into exports to make production for wo

Category: Economics - E