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In 1997, the Asian Pacific region was hit by a series of financial crises. The first country to be hit was Thailand, second Indonesia, and then South Korea. In the book, the author blames the decline in South Korea¡¯s economy , was due to foreign debt, government-business relations, and deterioration in Korea¡¯s competitiveness. Although South Korea gained admission in the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) in 1996, there were still problems with the economy that caused the financial crisis in South Korea. One of which was excessive foreign debt. The South Korean government preferred to finance development spending through foreign loans, rather than inward foreign direct investment. Another reason why South Korea¡¯s economy collapsed was due to the government-business relations. Since the 1960¡¯s, Korea had fostered close government-business relations to increase industrial development. The government often times encouraged the growth of the large industrial conglomerates, known as chaebols. In the 1970¡¯s, government also encouraged the chaebols to move into the heavy and chemical industries, but by the 1980¡¯s, under their own agenda, the chaebols expanded into previously unrela