South Korea and Globalization: The Rise to Globalism?

This article examines South Korean interpretations and practices of globalization that have conditioned economic restructuring, industrial relations, and foreign policy formation in two administrations in the 1990s. Significant continuities are apparent in terms of the fundamental quest for economic liberalization. However, the article emphasizes crucial differences in their approach to corporate deconcentration, the interventionary role of the state, the inclusion of organized labor, and North Korea policy. It raises questions about the impact of globalization on the balance of forces in Korea’s domestic political economy, specifically between the state, capital, and labor. The issue of corporate deconcentration is at the center of this contest. President Kim Dae Jung seized the opportunity of the financial crisis to redeploy state power toward the goals of corporate deconcentration, financial reform, and economic restructuring. However, while these policies have been fairly successful to date in economic terms, they are not fully supported by either big business or organized labor. National consensus was short-lived during the height of the financial crisis and entrenched conflicts of interest between business, labor, and government soon reasserted themselves. The pursuit of neoliberal globalization may be in fundamental conflict with the simultaneous pursuit of democratic consolidation and social inclusion.