Author

Timo Fleckenstein, Soohyun Christine Lee 

Title 

Skills and Training in Hierarchical Capitalism: The development and reform of vocational training in South Korea

Year

2022

Abstract

From a “virtuous cycle (…) in which education and growth reinforced each other” (Cheon, 2014, 209), South Korea has developed a pathological equilibrium holding back eco-nomic and social progress. Low labour productivity and skills mismatch undermine the eco-nomic prospect of the country, and we also observe sharp rises in inequality in an ever more dualised labour market. Governments of different political persuasion have recognised these challenges, and they have thought to reinvigorate vocational education and training (VET). However, this research shows that large employers – which were at the heart of a segmen-talist coalition between business and government when collective skills formation of the De-velopmental State was dismantled – continue to undermine any efforts of meaningful voca-tional skills formation. We argue that the country’s hierarchal production regime and, related to this, labour market dualisation provide the micro-foundations for successive failure in VET reform; and without challenging large employers’ extremely dominant position in the Korean political economy and without addressing labour market dualism, the reform of VET policy can be expected to remain a futile endeavour.