South Korea

Poverty in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) is an ongoing issue of long standing in the nation’s history. As in many other regions around the world, challenges associated with both absolute and relative poverty are significant and complex in this country. Its history, political, economic, cultural, and social systems are all interwoven in creating, and responding to, the issue of poverty. The uniqueness of its poverty experience is related to the high speed of economic and demographic transition in the aftermath of the Korean War in the 1950s. The nation has dramatically evolved from a poor nation to one of the major economies in the world and has achieved remarkable declines in rates of poverty. Despite this remarkable economic growth, South Korea has not ...