Unintended Consequences of Well-Intentioned Policies of South Korea: Lessons for Emerging Economies on Capital Market Liberalisation

While South Korea has achieved remarkable economic and democratic transformation during the past decades, it has suffered from two major economic crises, both of which are essentially liquidity crises. In this regard, the purpose of this study is twofold: one is to review the debates on capital market liberalisation and highlight the dark sides of South Korea’s experience. The other is to explain why South Korea has experienced another crisis in 2008 even though it already experienced the same liquidity crisis in 1997. We highlight the unintended consequences of policies with their own legitimate purposes and provide lessons on capital market liberalisation for emerging economies.