1980年代における韓国財閥の政治史的考察

Political consideration about Korean Chaebol in1980’s - Study of economic interchange between Daewoo Chaebol and Hungary

In the 1980s, South Korea actively promoted diplomatic efforts to reach out across the Iron Curtain, spurred on by the decision to hold the Seoul Olympics. In the early stages, one important issue was the establishment of economic relations through trade; South Korea aimed to establish diplomatic relations after establishing economic relations with Communist bloc countries. The first breakthrough in South Korea’s efforts to cross the Iron Curtain came from Hungary and a key person in the process of establishing economic relations with Hungary was Kim Woo-Jung of Daewoo Group. There has been a great deal of research on South Korea’s industrial groups, but much of that research has been carried out from the perspectives of economic history and business history; research from the perspective of political history has been relatively rare. However, there is a case to be made that South Korean industrial groups’ economic activities developed while working reciprocally with the South Korean government to accommodate their interests; therefore, it is necessary to consider South Korean industrial groups from the perspective of political history. This paper aims to consider the operation of South Korean industrial groups from the perspective of political history and attempts to shed light on the activities of the Daewoo group during the establishment of economic relations with Hungary in South Korea in the 1980s.