ABSTRACT
Over the last two years the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea) has faced not merely a financial crisis but also a deep social crisis. As the World Bank points out, a social crisis occurs as a result of "reductions in public spending on essential services such as health care and education, and the fall in household incomes as people are laid off, wages fall, and prices rise." 1 Faced with massive lay-offs, income reduction, and asset value depreciation, many social institutions from family to social welfare schemes have been undergoing significant changes.
