From miracle to crisis and the mirage of the post-crisis reform

Chapter 5 discussed the unfolding of the financial crisis in 1997–98 and the post-crisis reforms and their impacts. The crisis prompted the Korean government to undertake a number of reforms in finance, corporate governance, and the labor market. This chapter analyzes the dynamics of the reform process and assesses the outcomes of the reforms, which aimed at introducing the Anglo-Saxon economic model. It argues that the reform outcomes were conditioned on the interplay of local-specific conditions and interest politics and that the reforms were intent more on establishing a market-oriented economy than promoting the long-term growth potential and the competitiveness of the economy.