ABSTRACT
With the advent of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) era however, various issues, which used to be characterised as an authoritarian growth model such as strong government intervention in the economy, tight government-bank-chaebol alliance and the exclusion of labour and small and medium-sized firms in economic affairs, would either cease to function or be weakened at least. This chapter addresses these issues and argues the '97 economic crisis and subsequent intervention of the IMF was as one of the most revolutionary turning points in the history of Korea's capitalist industrialisation process. The distribution system in Korea reflects some of the characteristics peculiar to the Korean market that provide difficulties for foreign investors. The chapter assesses structural and cultural factors that led to Korea's economic and financial crisis. In particular, it argues that the Korean financial crisis should not be treated solely as an economic crisis or a political crisis but as a structural crisis of the Korean political economy.
