Are Korean Welfare Politics Changing?: The Politics of the First and Second Pension Reforms in Korea

Abstract

This article examines what factor was most significant in determining the pension reforms in Korea. This will be achieved by analyzing the two pension reforms undertaken during the Kim Dae-jung government (the first pension reform) and Roh Moo-hyun government (the second pension reform). The research demonstrates that in both cases the results were decided by the power relations formed through a process of strategic actions and interactions among major actors. This implies that actors rather than institutions, and dynamic power relations rather than the power resources of actors, are crucial in changing welfare policies.

In addition, the comparison of the two pension reforms shows that the interactions among the actors became more active, and the role of the political parties became more important during the decade separating the two reforms. The pattern of forming coalitions and cooperating among the actors also changed during the period in scrutiny from being tacit and loose to open and active.