South Korean Multinationals after the Asian Financial Crisis: Toward Liberal Capitalism?

Abstract

Known as the ‘Miracle of East Asia’, South Korea remains a successful case of late industrialization. South Korea’s rapid economic growth since the 1960s transformed it from one of the world’s poorest countries into an economic powerhouse with per capita income of US$ 23,000 as of 2012. Seen as a highly effective model of industrial catch-up, South Korea’s state-guided capitalism focused on export-oriented manufacturing sectors and was once praised as the hallmark of successful industrialization (see also Ozawa in this volume). Now it is the twelfth-largest economy in gross domestic product (GDP) terms, and its global companies are leading in electronics, car manufacturing, and shipbuilding. At the same time, due to its strong emphasis on exports, it has coped with the global financial crisis of late 2008 better than most developed economies.