The Development Of Modern Social Security Programs In South Korea

The thesis examines the developmental trajectories of major welfare programs,the health and pension insurance programs,in South Korea from 1961 to 2016.Theoretical aim of present research is to discover the concrete and multi-dimensional causal configurations adequate to explain important historical patterns in the development process of welfare policies in South Korea.The South Korean case provides a unique strategic advantage over Western cases because of the significant democratization of political regime during the period,along with several factors usually considered critical for the development of welfare state,such as expansion of civil society and economy,and globalization.Employing historical institutional perspective,this study finds out that during the authoritarian regimes(1961 to 1987),the development of major social welfare programs in South Korea has been affected by several factors,notably(1)the authoritarian characteristics of policy-making,(2)comprehensive developmental ideology of key decision makers,and(3)the legitimacy politics.However,along with the democratization in late 1980s,demands from civil society for the welfare reform was increased and the institutional space for the decision making was broadened.At the same time,the developmental ideology of state actors was significantly weakened.As a result,South Korean social welfare programs experienced substantial progress,including the expansion of coverage and state's increased financial responsibility.Lastly,the pension reform process in early 2000s specifically shows how the policy outcomes depends on both international pressure caused by globalization of economy and the domestic political circumstances at a given historical juncture.The thesis contributes to the welfare state literature by demonstrating several points.First,South Korean case clearly shows the limitations of existing major theories,which largely ignore the policy making mechanism in non-democratic and developing societies.Second,the development of welfare policy in a given nation cannot be accurately understood without in-depth analysis of its history.Third,the study of South Korean case reveals that welfare policy development in South Korea has been the result of a combination of different factors in a specific historical and institutional context.The present study also provides the key points in terms of development of pensions and healthcare system after unification.First,the structural reform has more advantages than the parametric reform and the current pension system.Most importantly it is most similar to the Northern pension policy so it makes the application and acceptance easier when we are united focused on the South Korea's policies.Especially it stands out in ensuring northern people with general,appropriate pension in the long term as well as in its early stage.Also according to circumstances,it can minimize the unification expense and guarantee its fairness(of burdening).When we judge on the perspective of unification,structural reform is most suitable.Second,alternative healthcare model after unification need to provide key factors including(a)healthcare accessibility through the reduction of medical expenses,(b)improving responsiveness of patients,(c)the quality of care provided by the provider,(d)efficiency improvements that inhibit spending increase on healthcare,(e)improvement of equity that improves the difference in medical access between classes in the social hierarchy.