How do poor nations become rich, industrialized, and democratic? And what role does democracy play in this transition? To address these questions, Jongryn Mo and Barry R. Weingast study South Korea's remarkable transformation since 1960. The authors concentrate on three critical turning points: Park Chung Hee's creation of the development state beginning in the early 1960s, democratization in 1987, and the genesis of and reaction to the 1997 economic crisis. At each turning point, Korea took a significant step toward creating an open access social order. The dynamics of this transition hinge on the inclusion of a wide array of citizens, rather than just a narrow elite, in economic and political activities and organizations. The political economy systems that followed each of the first two turning points lacked balance in the degree of political and economic openness and did not last. The Korean experience, therefore, suggests that a society lacking balance cannot sustain development. Korean Political and Economic Development offers a new view of how Korea was able to maintain a pro-development state with sustained growth by resolving repeated crises in favor of rebalancing and greater political and economic openness.

A distinguished group of international scholars debates the state of change or continuity in North Korea's post--Kim II Sung regime--shedding light on one of the world's most closed societies, its porential to adapt to post-cold war realities, and the prospects for a peaceful and stable Korean peninsula.

This volume evaluates the complex developments between the United States and Korea and offers policy recommendations for how both countries in the future might avoid the bitter politiczation of trade disputes of the recent past and expand their economic relations.

This book describes and explains the effect democratic change has had on Korean economic policy and its economy. It explains how conflicts over economics have evolved in major policy areas and which economic factors have been important in resolving these conflicts, with a close look at chaebols, their market positions and political influence.

Expert contributors examine the challenges of fully implementing the rule of law in South Korea's fledgling democracy and market economy. The expert contributors detail the obstacles that must be overcome, such as corruption in politics and corporate governance and a deep-rooted cultural indifference to the rights of the individual, and offer suggestions on what can--and what should not--be done.

This volume evaluates the complex developments between the United States and Korea and offers policy recommendations for how both countries in the future might avoid the bitter politiczation of trade disputes of the recent past and expand their economic relations.