Financial Liberalization and Economic Development in Korea: 1980–2020 By Yung Chul Park, Joon-Kyung Kim, and Hail Park,. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2021. xix, 315 pp. ISBN: 9780674251281 (cloth)

ABSTRACT

Much less attention has been given to South Korea's more recent political economy, and even less to its financial liberalization and how that has impacted not only economic growth but also democratization and social equality. [...]this serious study based on careful examination of economic data has something new and important to add. Except for the insurance industry, the financial markets never really opened up much, and five big domestic banks still dominate the banking sector. [...]as every South Korean knows, the power of the major chaebols, such as Lotte, LG, Samsung, and Hyundai, and the families that control them has not been effectively curtailed.