From developmentalism to productivism: the pathway of Korean welfare state

The pathway followed by the Korean welfare state is particularly interesting: some forms of welfare provision originated during the authoritarian period, but mostly aiming at obtaining political legitimation and public support. However, the situation began to change with the end of the military regime and the restoration of a parliamentary republic in 1987. The beginning of the democratization process – and the election of Kim Young Sam, the first civilian President of the country – marked a significant point in the expansion of the Korean welfare state. This expansion, and possible consolidation, was – strangely enough – nurtured immediately in the wake of the Asian economic crisis, under the new Presidency of Kim Dae Jung. In this paper, the authors give an account of the development of Korean welfare state focusing in particular on the post-crisis period, and demonstrate how the financial crisis has been indeed an opportunity to improve welfare state’s conditions as direct outcome of democratization and globalization processes.