Política industrial na Coréia do Sul no século XXI

Abstract

The objective of this study is to show an internalization of the practice of coordination and planning of industrial policies in South Korea in the post-1990s that will help the country to overcome the challenges of the change in the dynamics of international trade and the advance of the technological frontier. For such a foundation, firstly, it is necessary to contest the theoretical framework of industrial policy, going through its definition, different theoretical foundations and evolution of policy approaches. Next, it is important to highlight the two challenges focused in this work (the global value chain and the fourth industrial revolution), emphasizing their problems for newly industrialized countries such as South Korea. Afterwards, entering the case study of the South Korean, a historical overview of industrial policies was made through the Five-Year Plans (1960-1980) in order to emphasize how the practice was important for the process of catching up and productive transformations. Despite the discontinuation of the coordination of industrial development policies due to the implementation of neoliberal reforms in the 1990s, after a deep financial crisis in 1997, state activism in industrial policy planning and in the financial sector resumed in the post-1990s and is present in the economic policies of South Korean administrations until the present time. Thus, given the productive transformations and the rise of South Korea in international trade due to the continuation of the practice of coordinating industrial development, it is expected that the country will identify the implications of the new challenges and update its policy approaches to maintain the border and competitive status of its production chain.