The Welfare State in Korea

Huck-Ju Kwon co-edited with G.White and R.Goodman a book entitled, "Welfare Orientalism" (in 1997 published by Routledge). His article, "Beyond European Welfare Regimes" was published in the "Journal of Social Policy" (October 1997).

Through the analysis of institutional dynamics Kwon argues that social policy development in Korea is not due to common exogenous factors such as international or union pressure but to the desire of the weakly-legitimated government to have itself legitimized.Through the analysis of institutional dynamics Kwon argues that social policy development in Korea is not due to common exogenous factors such as international or union pressure but to the desire of the weakly-legitimated government to have itself legitimized. Such political rationale is deeply embedded in the structure of social policy institutions and particularly in the way that the state has played a part in financing social welfare programmes. Kwon shows that the role of the Korean state is characterized as essentially that of regulator-type rather than provider.