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Following the Asian financial crisis, South Korea has undertaken wide‐ranging, economic structural reforms under IMF conditionality while receiving IMF assistance. This paper describes Korean accomplishments in restructuring the financial and corporate sectors, and also addresses the unfinished agendas. It suggests ongoing reforms in a knowledge‐based economy, in which the financial sector serves as the “brain” of market economy by allocating scarce capital to the most profitable firms within South Korea. It also recommends that subsidiary companies of Korean chaebols become independent viable business units, and that new sources of growth be found by promoting Korean SMEs and venture businesses. JEL Classification Numbers: E44, F34, G18, G32, G34, L11, L22, O16, O53.

South Korea has undertaken major and far-reaching actions to rebuild and improve its financial sector since the financial crisis of 1997. Various measures to clean up the balance sheets of financial institutions have helped to normalize the financial system earlier than expected and have significantly eased the credit crunch. Despite the many significant changes in the South Korean economy brought about by financial reform, the country must continue with further improvements if it expects to build a stronger and more competitive financial industry that can thrive in the international market. To sustain the momentum of its initial reform effort, South Korea should institute additional financial reforms, eliminate moral hazard, and establish new market-based rules. Copyright (c) 2004 Center for International Development and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.