Class and Income Inequality in Korea

This paper explores income inequality based on class relations inKorea. Korea has been known as a model case of economic success,with a low level of economic inequality relative to other developingcountries. Utilizing national survey data, this analysis finds classinequality to be the most significant component of economic inequalityin Korea until 2003. Though we cannot conclude that economicinequality among classes has been expanded, due to a lack of compara-ble information before the economic crisis, we may at least say thatclass inequality is the most salient factor of economic inequality inKorea after the economic crisis. KCI Citation Count: 6