Transition II

Abstract

The reforms initiated in the late 1970s took time to materialize the detailed form of new developmentalism. Conflicts between state policymakers and large corporations slowly produced adjustments through tedious attrition in the Roh Tae-woo (1988–92) and Kim Young-sam (1993–7) administrations. Large corporations wanted input-oriented volume expansionism, while economic bureaucrats pressed to change private corporations’ strategy toward specialization in core business. This chapter examines how industrial politics between the state and the private firms, as well as within the state, evolved in the Roh and Kim administrations, and why Korea continued state-led developmentalism by contentious adjustments. First this chapter examines the industrial politics between state and business, as well as among the ministries within the state during the Roh and Kim administrations. And before exploring the transformation following the Asian financial crisis, this chapter examines the electronics industry for a micro-level analysis of Korea’s new developmentalism.