ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the legal and institutional dimensions of the successful development and applies the general theory to explain the impact that law and institutions had on Korea's successful development. It also applies the general theory and identifies the applicable law and Korea's economic and social development objectives. Despite such government efforts to increase the adaptability of laws to socioeconomic conditions, Korean laws that aimed to protect certain social interests, such as protecting the integrity of the government from corruption, had not been very effective until the later stages of Korea's development. Applying the analytics to Korea, the primary objective of Korea's development policies was the relief of extreme poverty for the majority of its population. The conditions of poverty resulted in insufficient purchasing power in the domestic market. To overcome the constraints, the government adopted export-led development policies and prioritized developing manufacturing industries using inexpensive and efficient labor that Korea had in abundance.
