Globalization in South Korea

South Korea is 5th largest export economy in the world and the 6th economic complexity according to Economic Complexity Index (ECI) with the top export destinations centralized in China ($149 B)^[1] with a total population of 51,324,823 in 2019.^[2]

Overview

Globalization is derived from Europe colonization of continents in Asia, Africa and Americas. However, it was underdeveloped until World War II, when globalization had been established worldwide.^[3] Globalization can be defined as an uneven process that focuses on transforming current social conditions of nationality into a connected international network.^[4] Furthermore, globalization creates a united and aligned world by combining existing and new practices. Globalization affects a wide-range of life aspects, primarily world economics because globalization has a purpose of outsourcing social network and existing connections to build exclusive connections between countries.^[5] Moreover, the globalization phenomenon started in the Western region where it would eventually spread to Asian territory during the 1990s when the Asia economic crisis took place. Thus, Asia countries' viewed globalization as the key to overcoming financial distress and eventually adhering to western culture, which is also known as westernization.^[6]

Asia-Pacific globalization

Asia's economic growth during 1980s was accelerated due to the influx of foreign investment while during 1997 and 1998, a significant setback took place as the US dollar appreciated tremendously even in comparison to the yuan which led to financial distress in Asia and affected South Korea where similar debt structures were also recognised.^[7] Furthermore, South Korea's economy showed outstanding short-term foreign debt that was threefold higher and kept increasing over the year whereas exchange reserves showed insignificant changes; this caused the government to sign a bailout package with IMF as the country was currently unable to repay the appreciation of dollar loans to the debtholders. This package proposed to extend financial support to save the country from collapsing.^[7] Therefore, an agreement with IMF was made during 1997 where IMF proceeded on funding and advancing loans for South Korea that would be repaid in the future.

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The policies of South Korea and Taiwan have been similar to those of Japan in many respects, whereas the city-states of Hong Kong and Singapore have been extremely market-oriented and open, closer to laissez-faire than are western countries [10] Although there are variations in the policies pursued, East Asian countries, more or less across the board, have moved in a liberal and outward-oriental direction.

Neo-liberal globalization

The economic crisis during 1997–1998 had created economic regression in Asia, including South Korea. South Korea had a high debt-equity ratio followed by low profitability due to inconsistency in corporate governance, which was the major obstacle. The government had to reform the country's policy to elevate South Korea's condition and was highly supported by many parties, especially, IMF and chaebols contributing to the domestic political, ideational and social conditions.^[11] Eventually, the South Korea GDP showed a satisfactory growth from economic regression to approximately 13% growth in GDP during the 7th quarter since the financial crisis started.^[12] South Korea began to be involved in international agreements, such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 1989 which was brought up during Australia Prime Minister Bob Hawke's, speech in Korea.^[13]

Furthermore, during the 21st century, during the

Meanwhile, there was a significant change in working capital in South Korea after the neo-liberal policy was implemented a new type of working class was introduced, which was contingent workers. Contingent workers are freelance workers that have affordable wages and limited rights, gaining corporate awareness.^[16] Contingent workers had a significant growth accounting for 34% of total employment in the market. Korea's government agreed to implement contingent workers in exchange for workers' rights whilst increasing unemployment rate.^[15] Hence, due to the flexibility in the market, corporates made reformation in the company structure by replacing existing workers with contingent workers; this showed that government's bargain agreement with corporate entities was not succeeded. Hence, unemployment rate increased due to corporate influence over government.^[15] This caused separation between parties among standard workers and non-standard workers as difference protections and eligibilities between both parties creating borders. Contingent workers, which consisted of one-third of total labour, had not been provided with social protection and welfare. Thus, Korean labour faced challenges and new opportunities caused by globalization.^[15]

Cultural development

Since South Korea has started globalization, Korea's economic focus shifted to media and cultural content during the 1990s, and

South Korea had gone through several economic development stages that eventually lead South Korea's economy to expand and become one of the most globalized countries. This is demonstrated by 72 percent of households owning broadband Internet.^[25] During the Japanese colonization, South Korea's economic structure shifted from agriculture to semi-industrial and grew rapidly. At the same time, during the Korean War the economy of both separated countries experienced turmoil due to exaggerate spending on military supplies.^[25] Eventually, South Korea experienced a turning point under the Rhee government as there were changes in political and economic structure reflected in exchange rates and export subsidies. During 1961, the Korean government took over banks and made them nationalized. This allowed the government to take on full control over the funds.^[26] Furthermore, South Korea's private firms capital structure showed a high percentage of external borrowings during 1963–1974.^[26] In addition to the subsidies, the government assigned private entrepreneurs to invest in new manufacturing branches. Thus, through subsidies from government, Korea's economic showed satisfactory figures with higher annual real GDP growth in comparison to the expected return, 8.5 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively.^[25]

Moreover, in the late 1990s South Korea experienced severe economic deterioration due to the

As enrolling in prestige school (SKY) is crucial for South Korean students, this has created a tremendous pressure on college entry examination, known as the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), as all students aim to get a perfect score to be accepted into a top grades university.^[36] The government has taken the CSAT as a crucial event, and the National Police Agency is assigned to ensure that traffic and noise will not disrupt students.^[36] This pressure led to many students attempting suicide or having suicidal thoughts; based on a South Korean nationwide survey, 61.4% of students were stressed with 54.4% specifically under educational-factor pressure. Based on Kim and Park (2014), students in South Korea viewed suicide as a permissive solution that relates to the high suicide rate.^[37] The primary cause of suicide attempts between the ages of 13 and 19 was school performance concerning higher education.^[38] Moreover, the World Health Organization stated that students resort to suicide because they can take control of their lives.^[39] Thus, the government made a reformation act to change the educational system, such as attempting to ban afterschool institutes, which were opposed by many parties. Another approach was to apply a curfew and a new policy of Sooshimojib.^[38] This policy allowed students to apply to university degree programs based on merit, talent and achievement instead of weighing completely at CSAT score.^[38]

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