Labour market dualisation and social protection in South Korea: searching for a new social contract and growth model

Timo Fleckenstein and Soohyun Christine Lee

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: There is little doubt that South Korea needs to develop a new social contract as a matter of urgency. Labour market dualisation and the rise of insecurity have undermined the social fabric of the country in the absence of robust social protection mechanisms that could mitigate job insecurity and corresponding anxiety. Elected on a platform of economic and social justice, the centre-left Moon Jae-in government (2017–2022) started with an ambitious agenda of labour market and unemployment protection reforms, informed by an aspiration to establish an inclusive/wage-led growth model instead of the country’s divisive export-oriented growth strategy, which relies on the exploitation of irregular workers for its economic success. We assess labour market dualisation and recent reform by the Moon Jae-in administration, before considering alternative policy recommendations to address the social polarisation in Korean society.

Keywords: South Korea; labour market dualisation; social protection; social contract; minimum wage; inclusive growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J01 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-03-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published in LSE Public Policy Review, 1, March, 2024, 3(2). ISSN: 2633-4046

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/122215/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:122215

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().