The social aspect of influence of chaebol financial industrial groups on the development of South Korea in the second half of the 20th - early 21st centuries

The system of chaebol financial industrial groups is quite a unique phenomenon not only for the economic sphere but also for the political, social and cultural spheres in South Korea. These companies have the greatest influence on all the above mentioned spheres. In this article the role of financial industrial groups in the social life of South Korea is carefully investigated. To be more precise two types of influence are considered: mechanisms of influence on the social policy used by chaebol and mechanisms of realisation of the established norms of social policy by chaebol the South Korean government uses. Of equal importance is the role of financial industrial groups as a social policy conductor at the nationwide scale. A conventional periodisation of various stages of social policy development by chaebol is suggested, which reflects the evolution and transformation of the political regime in South Korea because financial industrial groups and political elite always had very close ties with top management of chaebol. It is important to mention the analysis of correlation of the most significant political and social tendencies, which changed automatically with a new president to come with social policy measures established in leading South Korean conglomerates. The first stage of social policy development is traced back to 1960s and lasts until 1980s. This stage reflects all the tendencies of the strict authoritarian regime, which determined such social policy measures widely practiced by chaebol as a long working week, the system of life-long staff recruitment, and the absence of trade unions and social privileges. The above mentioned tendency preceded the tendency of liberalisation and democratisation of the political regime in the beginning of the 1980s, which lasted until the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998. This stage led to a significant smoothing of the social policy of South Korean chaebol, improvement of working conditions, creation and support of trade unions, various social benefits and privileges for workers. Another stage of the social policy started in 1998 after the crisis came to an end and it lasts until now - this is the time of active reforms in chaebol. Moreover, in the process of economic development chaebol managed to obtain enough power to influence the social policy of government and started to take an active part in the social life of the country by a wide set of measures including construction activities, educational and medical support, creation and support of independent trade unions and labour organisations. As time passed chaebol became a powerful regulator of social life and contributed greatly to the establishment of social security for broad layers of working-age population, which made chaebol a basis for the system of labour relations proved to be one of the best in the world.

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