Adapt, Fragment, Transform: Corporate Restructuing and System Reform in South Korea - Softcover

Byung-Kook Kim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 193136821X ISBN 13: 9781931368216

Publisher: Asia/Pacific Research Center, Div of The Institute for International Studies, 2010

Synopsis

South Korea remains a puzzle for political economists. The country has experienced phenomenal economic growth since the 1960s, but its upward trajectory has been repeatedly diverted by serious systemic crises, followed by spectacular recoveries. The recoveries are often the result of vigorous structural reforms that nonetheless retain many of South Korea's traditional economic institutions. How, then, can South Korea suffer from persistent systemic instability and yet prove so resilient? What remains the same and what changes?

The contributors to this volume consider the South Korean economy in its larger political context. Moving beyond the easy dichotomies―equilibrium vs. disequilibrium and stability vs. instability―they describe a complex and surprisingly robust economic and political system. Further, they argue that neither systemic challenges nor political pressures alone determine South Korea's stability and capacity for change. Instead, it is distinct patterns of interaction that shape this system's characteristics, development, and evolution.

About this title

About the Author

Byung-Kook Kim directed the East Asia Institute (2002-08), before serving as the senior secretary for Foreign Affairs and National Security in the Lee Myung-bak presidency. Eun Mee Kim is professor at the Graduate School of International Studies and director of the Institute for Development and Human Security, Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea.

Edition details

• Publisher: Asia/Pacific Research Center, Div of The Institute for International Studies
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 193136821X
• ISBN 13: 9781931368216
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 360
• Editor: Byung-Kook Kim, Eun Mee Kim, Jean C. Oi