A History of Capitalism in South Korea

A critical history of capitalist development and working-class resistance in Korea from the 1890s until today.

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A comprehensive history of South Korean capitalism by veteran South Korean labor activist and economist Park Seung-ho. Covering a century of history from the anti-feudal peasant revolts of the 1890s to the Candlelight Protests of 2016-2017, Park illustrates how present-day South Korean society has been shaped by the unfolding antagonism between the working and capitalist classes.

Whereas most popular histories of the South Korean economy place innovation, strategic state planning, and national willpower at the center of the narrative of the "Miracle on the Han River," Park's book sharply criticises this notion of capitalism as a shared project of mutual prosperity for Korean people, instead placing power and class struggle at the center of the story. Most importantly, Park's work is unique for looking beyond the borders of South Korea to explain how US and Japanese imperialism, transnational capital, and global workers' movements have shaped the unfolding of class struggle and social relations in South Korea.