Abstract

Kyu-Chul Jung examines how Korea’s export market today resembles Japan’s since the 1990s and faces increasing competition from China. In the 1990s Japan lost export market shares as Korea began to catch up, but China began to catch up with Korea in the late 2000s. The old strategy of exporting the same goods as advanced countries is not sustainable. With its limited resources, Korea needs to concentrate on exports where it has a comparative advantage, to undertake structural reforms (dealing with insolvent enterprises and improving labor-market flexibility) and to develop new export markets. Korea needs to focus on core capabilities, so that China and other latecomers cannot easily emulate Korea’s technology and market strategy.