The South Korean Financial Crisis and Its Revelations

In the fourth quarter of 1997, a serious financial crisis took place in South Korea. The exchange rate and stock price index plunged sharply, credit interest rates zoomed upward, South Korea's foreign debt payments capability dried up, bank credit fell disastrously, and the financial order descended into chaos. Scholars in China and abroad believe that, although the South Korean financial crisis is closely connected with such factors as the Southeast Asian financial crisis, the devaluation of the Japanese yen, and the activities of international speculative forces, the principal causes are internal.