The Globalization of Korean Economy and its Impacton Small and Medium-Sized Entrepreneurial Firms from 1998 to 2007

This research examines the effect of globalization of Korean economy on small and medium-sized entrepreneurial firms. When Korea underwent the Asian economic crisis in 1997, it reconstructed Korean venture industry and had helped fuel venture firms’ rapid growth. Therefore, this study shows the changed structure of Korean economy and the change of venture ecosystem due to the Asian financial crisis. In spite of a favorable turn of the industrial structure toward venture firms, their globalization level is reported still being low. In this study, we also examine how the Korean economy's globalization affects to the venture environments, focusing on the degree of Korea venture's globalization and role of venture capital. This study indicates that the globalization of Korean economy has played a positive role in the growth of the venture firms. However, with the growth of venture firms, small and medium venture companies have received relatively little focuses in Korean economy because the government policy of economic development has been oriented to large companies for several decades.