Professor Juliette Schwak from the Division of Communication, History and Politics at Franklin has recently been interviewed in the ‘Cultures Monde’ program of the French national radio "France Culture."
The episode was part of a series on the politics of Made in Asia focusing on South Korean industrial dynasties, the chaebol. Professor Schwak is a specialist in South Korea’s political economy, and she has published several articles in leading outlets on state-business relationships in South Korea. In particular, she has recently explored the challenges of reforming the chaebol to limit their dominance over South Korea’s economy.
In the program, she discusses chaebol’s weight in South Korea’s economy and the criticisms and reform attempts faced since the country’s democratization in the late 1980s. As she explains in the program: "The chaebol benefit from a certain aura because they embody South Korea’s economic miracle, and many South Koreans are proud of their achievements. At the same time there is strong public resentment against the chaebol: they make up more than 80% of Korea’s GDP but they only create about 10% of all jobs in the country. Many South Koreans also see them as concentrating economic opportunities and creating social inequalities. And on the other side of the political spectrum, economic liberals accuse the chaebol of hindering industrial innovation."
French-speakers can listen to the program’s podcast:
Corée du Sud: le pouvoir des dynasties industrielles - Ép. 4/4 - La force du Made in Asia (franceculture.fr)
For English-speakers, some of Professor Schwak’s related publications include:
Unlocking Start-Ups: South Korea’s Efforts to Curb the Dominance of Chaebol (ispionline.it)
Chaebol reform still an uphill battle after Lee Kun-hee | East Asia Forum
When Public and Private Merge: South Korea and the Chaebol | (hku.hk)
Dangerous Liaisons? State-Chaebol Co-operation and the Global Privatisation of Development: Journal of Contemporary Asia: Vol 49, No 1 (tandfonline.com)