Chang Kyung-Sup

Until 1997, successive governments of South Korea had pursued "developmental citizenship" - industrialisation at a pace that created jobs and raised incomes, even if social security benefits were minimum. The late 1990s crisis ended all that: the South Korean economy has recovered and is growing strongly but the quality of life has not. Temporary and underpaid jobs have become normal and on-the-job poverty has increased sharply. Income inequality has worsened and the population under the official poverty line has sharply increased in number and as a proportion of the population.