Although South Korea gained admission in the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) in 1996, there were still problems with the economy that caused the financial crisis in South Korea. One of which was excessive foreign debt. The South Korean government preferred to finance development spending through foreign loans, rather than inward foreign direct investment.

Another reason why South Korea¡¯s economy collapsed was due to the government-business relations. Since the 1960¡¯s, Korea had fostered close government-business relations to increase industrial development. The government often times encouraged the growth of the large industrial conglomerates, known as chaebols.

In the 1970¡¯s, government also encouraged the chaebols to move into the heavy and chemical industries, but by the 1980¡¯s, under their own agenda, the chaebols expanded into previously unrela

I liked reading this book because it had information that I was interested in. It was probably the easiest book to read out of all the other books on the South Korean economy.

exploiting their workers. Deregulation also meant less financial help, which increased the financial burdens of the chaebols. Starting in January of 1997, Korea¡¯s fourteenth largest chaebol declared bankruptcy, it had amounted $5.8 billion in debt. Altogether, 11 chaebols declared bankruptcy in 1997, but the most important chaebol was Kia. Kia was the seventh largest chaebol, and a major automobile manufacturer, it had accumulated almost $10 billion in debt.

In the second half of 1999, South Korea¡¯s economy showed signs of recovery. Companies began to re-employ laid off workers and created new enterprises in high technology and internet related fields. By November 1999, ¡°unemployment hit a post crisis low of 4.4 percent¡± (Bridges, 84). In 1999, ¡° final figure for real GDP growth was 10.7 percent. This was a far cry from the minus 6.7 percent of the previous year and it

During the late 1980¡¯s and first half of the 1990¡¯s, the process of democratization and deregulation meant that the government had to distance itself from the degree of overt financial support given to the chaebols in earlier decades. Due to democratization, labor unions were formed. They demanded higher wages and bette

Some topics in this essay:
South Korea¡¯s, South Korean, South Korea, Asian Pacific, Thailand Malaysia, Starting January, Kia Kia, President Roh¡¯s, Cooperation Development, south korea, south korea¡¯s, south korean, government-business relations, korea¡¯s economy, korean economy, south korea¡¯s economy, south korean economy, , deterioration korea¡¯s competitiveness, inward foreign, korea¡¯s competitiveness, reading book, percent previous,