The economic crisis of 1997-98 was a major watershed for the Korean economy. It inflicted great suffering and awakened the nation to the realization that the Korean economy required major structural changes if it is to sustain its economic growth.

In the aftermath of the crisis, Korea undertook a number of structural reforms which, as many analysts had already said, will be needed to sustain economic growth in the globalizing world of the 21st century. For Korea the crisis provided an opportune moment for long-overdue and radical changes in economic structure and for replacing the government-led development regime of the previous thirty years with a freer, market-economy system.

As shown by the authors in this volume, the reforms undertaken since the crisis have made a positive contribution to bringing about macroeconomic stability as well as allocative efficiency in the Korean economy. The authors also shed light on macroeconomic policies appropriate to the substantially different policy environments brought about by the reforms. Korea's reforms are not complete, however, and there is still risk of unsatisfactory macroeconomic outcome, if they are not pursued consistently.

The economic crisis of 1997-98 was a major watershed for the Korean economy. It inflicted great suffering and awakened the nation to the realization that the Korean economy required major structural changes if it is to sustain its economic growth.

In the aftermath of the crisis, Korea undertook a number of structural reforms which, as many analysts had already said, will be needed to sustain economic growth in the globalizing world of the 21st century. For Korea the crisis provided an opportune moment for long-overdue and radical changes in economic structure and for replacing the government-led development regime of the previous thirty years with a freer, market-economy system.

As shown by the authors in this volume, the reforms undertaken since the crisis have made a positive contribution to bringing about macroeconomic stability as well as allocative efficiency in the Korean economy. The authors also shed light on macroeconomic policies appropriate to the substantially different policy environments brought about by the reforms. Korea's reforms are not complete, however, and there is still risk of unsatisfactory macroeconomic outcome, if they are not pursued consistently.