Südkorea in der Krise - Ein Land auf der Suche nach Orientierung

Abstract

South Korea’s economic development model which was well suited to produce impressive growth in the sixties, seventies and eighties has become outdated. The acute crisis in 1997 and 1998 is a consequence of the inability to develop a new and more appropriate economic policy framework. The economic down-turn in South-East Asia, the currency crisis in a number of Asian countries, the inefficiencies of the Korean financial and corporate system and the lack of political leadership in 1997 aggravated this fundamental weakness and provided the background for the sudden collapse of the economy.
Kim Dae-jung’s administration is faced with the multiple task of solving the short-term economic crisis, identifying a new model which suits the economic, social and cultural conditions, and of building confidence in democratic principles and structures. The first half of 1998 has shown the enormous difficulties of tackling this multiple transformation. Given the long history of government control over the economic and political sector, the transformation is painful, difficult, and the outcome somewhat uncertain.