The Failure of Quasi-Governmental Regulatory Institutions in South Korea

Abstract

The Korean bureaucrats are criticized for no longer functioning as a sound industrial promoter nor a market supervisor. Peter Evans argued that the East Asian developmental states owe their success to the embedded autonomy of the government that functions through the interpersonal networks. However, now the embedded autonomy’s role is rather dubious. This article analyzes the two major government safety failure cases, the Kori Plant blackout in 2012 and the Sewol ferry tragedy in 2014. This article concludes the failure of the embedded autonomy caused the collapse of the safety regulation system monitored by bureaucrats.