Industrial Autonomy Research Articles

한국해운의 실태와 정책방향에 관한 연구

Through the 1960s and 1970s, the Korean shipping industry has witnessed a continued expansion in support of the rapidly growing export industries. The world-wide depression in shipping industry since the early 1980s, however, has seriously deteriorated the financial positions of the Korean shipping industry. In an effort to rescue the financially distressed shipping industry, the Korean government has provided various kinds of public subsidies and relief loans. Compared to the magnitude of government support, the relief measures so far undertaken have produced so little impact on the resilience and competitiveness of the industry. This paper suggests that the shipping policy be designed in a way to encourage the industry's efforts to increase the efficiency and to ensure the industry's autonomy in making decisions on commercial issues. In the policy-making process, all concerned parties, including foreign interests seeking the opening-up of the domestic shipping market, have to be invited to participate. This paper presents a rather optimistic outlook for the industry.