The rapid economic development of postwar Korea, called “compressed modernity,” was realized in the state-led development economic system from the 1960s. South Korea, a typical developing country, has undergone a dynamic transformation after the development era of the 1960s and 1970s, the June 1987 Declaration of Democracy, the 1997 IMF Economic Crisis, and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. However, the government-led economic system, which was effective during that period, has lost its expiration date. The opening of the domestic market and the transition to a high-wage nation have fundamentally changed the basic framework of the Korean economy, and the impact of globalization is accelerating such movements.
Global companies from South Korea, such as Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, and POSCO, are active on the world stage, while they are fiercely competing with companies in developed and developing countries.
Then, what kind of transformation has Korean society undergone during that time? It is a historical fact that South Korea has become a very prosperous country, driven by the rapid growth of the chaebol, and the economic level has risen significantly overall. It can also be considered that it has achieved the rank of developed countries. However, domestic economic disparities are widening, and there is considerable friction and conflict between groups that can feel affluence and those who do not, forming a background for political conflict.
In this lecture, we will examine how Korean society, led by chaebols, is changing amid historical environmental changes.