Kim, Kon Sik --- "Corporate law and corporate law scholarship in Korea: A comparative essay" [2014] ELECD 842; in Haley, O. John; Takenaka, Toshiko (eds), "Legal Innovations in Asia" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014) 243

Book Title: Legal Innovations in Asia

Editor(s): Haley, O. John; Takenaka, Toshiko

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783472789

Section: Chapter 4.2

Section Title: Corporate law and corporate law scholarship in Korea: A comparative essay

Author(s): Kim, Kon Sik

Number of pages: 16

Abstract/Description:

Korea’s stellar economic performance during the last four decades of the 20th century is well known and widely admired. Other segments of Korean society have been moving forward in step with its economic progress. Not only cars and smart phones, but also movies and pop singers symbolize the elevated status of Korea in the global market. Korea’s corporate law, however, largely lagged behind the business sector. Its corporate statutes played no significant role until the end of the last century. The situation, however, changed dramatically as the country fell into a financial crisis in 1997. The crisis was, for better or worse, generally regarded as a consequence of Korea’s poor corporate governance. Under pressure from international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the Korean government embarked on improving corporate governance by, among other things, revamping its corporate statutes. The post-crisis corporate law reforms advanced the relevance of corporate law in the business community, and, in turn, contributed to a rapid growth of corporate law practice. In the process, however, corporate law scholars have played no significant role, as discussed later. On the contrary, corporate law scholarship has been influenced by these developments. The purpose of this chapter is to review the transformation of corporate law in Korea during the last two decades from a comparative perspective. The term “corporate law” here is used in a broader sense, encompassing the capital market law.