South Korea’s Dilemma: Prosperity, Inequality, and the Road Ahead

This book investigates the policy choices and institutional frameworks that powered South Korea’s remarkable transformation from postwar poverty to a global economic powerhouse, while confronting the mounting structural challenges that now threaten its sustainability. It identifies ten key factors behind Korea’s rapid growth from the 1960s to the 1990s and examines pressing socioeconomic issues, including population aging, declining fertility, high suicide rates, political and economic polarization, early retirement, youth unemployment, and the expansion of private education. The book also analyzes deep inequalities within Korea’s labor market, such as persistent gender wage gaps, disparities between large conglomerates and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the divide between regular and non-regular employment, and the heavy reliance on self-employment. Finally, it addresses critical economic policy challenges, including rising household debt, real estate bubbles, minimum wage debates, inflation, an underdeveloped service sector, an undervalued stock market, inefficiencies in public enterprises and mutual financial cooperatives, a lagging tourism industry, the search for new growth engines, carbon neutrality commitments, and an outdated tax system. Offering fresh insights and concrete policy recommendations, the book highlights both the achievements and the vulnerabilities of Korea’s economic model.