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The study investigates South Korea's homeownership policy development and identifies key reasons for the limited growth. It examines the underdevelopment of demand-side policies as the basic failure in the sustainable and equitable expansion of homeownership in the country.

The South Korean National Pension scheme was instituted in 1988 and now covers all private-sector employees and the self-employed. Since the financial crisis of 1997, however, it has become controversial and is under considerable pressure, not least because of the perceived financial implications of the country's rapidly ageing population. Predictions of financial shortfalls or 'unsustainability' have prompted calls for severe 'downsizing' of the scheme. The debate on the reform of the scheme has been dominated by the need to respond to demographic change in ways that assist the national economy, invariably by reducing social expenditure. The debate, however, has given little attention to the social or welfare functions of the pension scheme, though the material insecurity of older people has been exacerbated by major changes in the labour market and the family. This paper details recent socio-demographic changes in Korea and discusses their implications for old-age security and pension reform. It argues that public-pension schemes should be developed to strengthen social protection against the insecurities of old-age, that intra-generational redistribution should be at the core of the reformed arrangements, and that the introduction of a comprehensive non-contributory pension scheme should be seriously considered. KEY WORDS--pension reform, South Korea, financial sustainability, old-age security, labour market, family.

Using Contingent Valuation Method, the monetary value of liberalizing employment of foreign workers in South Korea is determined. South Korean government has recently proposed such a move, and Korean congress has also framed relevant legislations. The study presents cost benefit analysis of the proposed liberalization, as estimated by Koreans.

Migrant workers are often alienated by disadvantages labor conditions as well as social discrimination as a whole, though they have emerged as a major force throughout Korean industry. Social workers in the work place can themselves utilize the micro and macro procedures of assisting troubled newcomers.

One of the most serious challenges facing Korea today is the plummeting birth rate. The total fertility rate of our country reached its population replacement level of 2.1 in 1983 [...]