Keun Lee

Capitalism in South Korea, 1945-2025

Capitalism in South Korea, 1945-2025 provides an interdisciplinary and analytical account of the evolution of South Korea since 1945. This book employs a framework of "compressed development, decompression, and convergence" to better understand Korea's turbulent journey, which has been marked by economic miracles, crises, and, more recently, a slowdown in growth and rising inequality. The book begins by defining "decompression" as political democratization and economic liberalization while demonstrating that economic achievements under the regime of compressed growth enabled the emergence of a Korean middle class that demanded political freedom, facilitating a peaceful transition to democracy in the late 1980s. Capitalism in South Korea, 1945-2025 then goes on to show how the post-crisis reforms imposed by the IMF set Korea on a trajectory of convergence with Anglo-American capitalism and brought an end to the so-called "East Asian miracle". This book highlights the unexpected co-existence of two different paths of convergence displayed by Korea. The first path involves convergence with Anglo-American capitalism, which is characterized by slow growth, worsening inequality, and "free but not-so-clean" democracy. The second path is convergence with the "safe capitalism" of several continental European countries, which is typified by low birth rates, low divorce and crime rates, and long-life expectancy, as well as the pursuit of active labor market policies emulating Northern Europe. Capitalism in South Korea, 1945-2025 concludes that contemporary Korea is undergoing a period of "diverging convergence". That is, Korea shows some signs of converging with certain advanced capitalist nations while also remaining distinct according to various indicators.