Advocacy coalitions and the politics of welfare in Korea after the economic crisis

This article seeks to explain the politics of social policy in Korea after the economic crisis of 1997/98, focusing on the advocacy coalitions. It shows that the welfare idealists were able to succeed in introducing the Minimum Living Standard Guarantee (MLSG) by seizing a number of strategic points of decision making in Korea, explaining why Korea adopted active social policy initiatives beyond the functional requirements of the structural adjustment. The introduction of MLSG, which recognises the right of every citizen to a decent living, means that social protection has become an integral social policy goal in Korea.