Editing Economy of South Korea (section)

===2000s===
South Korea's economy has moved away from a centrally planned, government-directed investment model toward a more market-oriented one. These economic reforms, pushed by President Kim Dae-jung, helped South Korea maintain one of Asia's few expanding economies,{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}} with growth rates of 10.8% in 1999 and 9.2% in 2000. Growth fell back to 3.3% in 2001 because of the slowing global economy, decreased exports, and perceptions that corporate and financial reforms had stalled.

After the bounce back from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the economy continued strong growth in 2000 with a GDP growth of 9.08%.<ref name="a" /> However, the South Korean economy was affected by the [[September 11 attacks]]. The slowing global economy, falling exports, and the perception that corporate and financial reforms had stalled caused growth to decrease to 3.8% in 2001<ref name="b">{{cite web
 | title = Total Economy Database
 | url = http://www.conference-board.org/economics/database.cfm
 | year = 2009
 | access-date = 5 June 2009
 | archive-date = 7 May 2016
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160507193609/https://www.conference-board.org/economics/database.cfm
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref> Thanks to industrialisation GDP per hour worked (labour output) more than tripled from US$2.80 in 1963 to US$10.00 in 1989.<ref name="b" /> More recently the economy stabilised and maintained a growth rate of between 4–5% from 2003 onwards.<ref name="b" />

Led by industry and construction, growth in 2002 was 5.8%,<ref>{{cite web|title=South Korea's GDP up 5.8% for year|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/asia/11/21/korea.gdp/index.html|website=CNN|access-date=26 February 2017|archive-date=27 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227150057/http://edition.cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/asia/11/21/korea.gdp/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> despite anemic global growth. The restructuring of chaebols, bank privatisation, and the creation of a more liberalised economy—with a mechanism for bankrupt firms to exit the market—remain an unfinished reform task. Growth slowed in 2003, but production expanded 5% in 2006, due to popular demand for key export products such as [[High-definition television|HDTVs]] and mobile phones.{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}}

Like most industrialised economies, South Korea experienced setbacks during the [[Great Recession]]. Growth fell by 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2008 from the previous quarter, the first negative quarterly growth in 10 years, with year on year quarterly growth continuing to be negative into 2009.<ref name=chang>{{cite journal |last=Chang |first=Jaechul |title=The Contours of Korea's Economic Slowdown and Outlook for 2009 |journal=SERI Quarterly |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=87–90 }}</ref> Many sectors of the economy at the time reported declines, with manufacturing dropping 25.6% as of January 2009, and consumer goods sales dropping 3.1%.<ref name=chang /> Exports in autos and semiconductors, two pillars of the economy, shrank 55.9% and 46.9% respectively, while exports overall fell by a record 33.8% in January, and 18.3% in February 2009 year on year.<ref name=kkw>{{cite journal |author1=Kim Kyeong-Won |author2=Kim Hwa-Nyeon |title=Global Financial Crisis Overview |journal=SERI Quarterly |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=13–21 }}</ref> As in the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Korean currency also experienced massive fluctuations, declining by 34% against the US dollar.<ref name=kkw/> Annual growth in the economy slowed to 2.3% in 2008, and was expected to drop to as low as −4.5% by [[Goldman Sachs]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/03/12/korea-rate-economy-markets-currency-won.html|title=Korea's Choice: Currency Or Economy?|author=Vivian Wai-yin Kwok|date=12 March 2009|work=[[Forbes]]|access-date=26 August 2017|archive-date=9 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124430/https://www.forbes.com/2009/03/12/korea-rate-economy-markets-currency-won.html|url-status=live}}</ref> but South Korea was able to limit the downturn to a standstill at 0.2% in 2009.<ref>US Department of State. [https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2800.htm "Background Note: South Korea"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604192157/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2800.htm |date=4 June 2019 }}</ref> Despite the [[Great Recession]], the South Korean economy, helped by timely stimulus measures and strong domestic consumption of products that compensated for decreased exports,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/07/09/45/0503000000AEN20100709006500320F.HTML|title=(News Focus) Rate hike heralds start of Korea's stimulus exit|work=[[Yonhap News Agency]]|access-date=19 November 2010|archive-date=20 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520065613/http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/07/09/45/0503000000AEN20100709006500320F.HTML|url-status=live}}</ref> was able to avoid a recession unlike most industrialised economies, posting positive economic growth for two consecutive years of the crisis. In 2010, South Korea made an economic rebound with a growth rate of 6.1%, signaling a return of the economy to pre-crisis levels. South Korea's exports recorded $424 billion in the first eleven months of the year 2010, already higher than its export in the whole year of 2008. The South Korean economy of the 21st century, as a [[Jim O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of Gatley#Next Eleven|Next Eleven]] economy, is expected to grow from 3.9% to 4.2% annually between 2011 and 2030,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/ADO/2010/ado2010-update-subregional.pdf|title=The Future of Growth In Asia}}</ref> similar to growth rates of developing countries such as Brazil or Russia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2011&ey=2015&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&pr1.x=69&pr1.y=18&c=223%2C922%2C542&s=NGDP_RPCH&grp=0&a=|title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects|work=imf.org|access-date=19 November 2010|archive-date=30 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530220012/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2011&ey=2015&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&pr1.x=69&pr1.y=18&c=223%2C922%2C542&s=NGDP_RPCH&grp=0&a=|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Korea President Park Business Leaders 20130508 01.jpg|thumb|left|South Korean President [[Park Geun-hye]] at a breakfast meeting with [[chaebol]] business magnates [[Lee Kun-hee]] and [[Chung Mong-koo]] in 2013]]

The South Korean government signed the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) on 5 December 2013, with the Australian government seeking to benefit its industries—including automotive, services, and resources and energy—and position itself alongside competitors, such as the U.S. and ASEAN.<ref>{{cite web|title=Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) – Key outcomes |url=http://dfat.gov.au/fta/akfta/fact-sheet-key-outcomes.html |work=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade |publisher=Australian Government |access-date=15 December 2013 |date=5 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215200750/http://dfat.gov.au/fta/akfta/fact-sheet-key-outcomes.html |archive-date=15 December 2013 }}</ref> South Korea is Australia's third largest export market and fourth largest trading partner with a 2012 trade value of A$32 billion. The agreement contains an Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clause that permits legal action from South Korean corporations against the Australian government if their trade rights are infringed upon.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lessons from South Korea's Chaebol economy|url=http://theconversation.com/lessons-from-south-koreas-chaebol-economy-20158|access-date=15 December 2013|newspaper=The Conversation Australia|date=6 December 2013|author=Nattavud Pimpa|archive-date=15 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215204138/http://theconversation.com/lessons-from-south-koreas-chaebol-economy-20158|url-status=live}}</ref>

The government cut the [[Workweek and weekend|work week]] from six days to five in phases, from 2004 to 2011, depending on the size of the firm.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=782057 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714072957/http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=782057 |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2012 |script-title=ko:주5일근무제 : 지식백과 |language=ko |publisher=100.naver.com |access-date=14 July 2014 }}</ref> The number of public holidays was expanded to 16 by 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2013042600691 |script-title=ko:[시사이슈 찬반토론&#93; 대체휴일제 부활 옳을까요 |publisher=[[The Korea Economic Daily]] |access-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116112518/http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2013042600691 |archive-date=16 January 2015 }}</ref>

South Korean economy decreased in the first quarter of 2019, which happened to be its worst drop since the Great Recession. GDP declined a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent from the previous quarter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/2019/04/25/south-korea-economy-unexpectedly-contracts-in-first-quarter-worst-since-global-financial-crisis|title=South Korea economy unexpectedly contracts in first-quarter, worst since global financial crisis|date=25 April 2019|publisher=Euronews|access-date=25 April 2019|archive-date=25 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425032517/https://www.euronews.com/2019/04/25/south-korea-economy-unexpectedly-contracts-in-first-quarter-worst-since-global-financial-crisis|url-status=live}}</ref>

South Korea's prices rose more than 6 percent in July compared with last year, the fastest jump in nearly a quarter century.

In July 2022, South Korea's [[Consumer price index]] rose 6.3 percent, the highest rate since November 1998.