Through the analysis of institutional dynamics, Huck-Ju Kwon argues that social policy development in Korea is not due to common exogenous factors such as international or union pressure but to the desire of the weakly-legitimated government to have itself legitimized. Such political rationale is deeply embedded in the structure of social policy institutions and particularly in the way that the state has played a part in financing social welfare programs. This book shows that the role of the Korean state is characterized as essentially that of regulator-type rather than provider.