• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.39 no.5 s.104
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• pp.768-785
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• 2004

Although it is widely accepted that housing agents and institutions play a crucial role in (re)configuring the internal structure of housing markets, there is no much literature on the power relations among housing agents and institutions in the (re)production of housing space in the non-Western context. In this paper, founded theoretically on institutional approaches to housing, I investigate the structure of housing production and allocation, and the housing market system in South Korea. In addition, this research explores the characteristics of Korean housing policies in conjunction with the roles of and the interrelationships among housing agents in the (re)production of housing space in the Korean context. Based on the analysis of the structure of housing production and allocation in Korea, I argue that institutional approaches are valuable in investigating the housing market system in which political power relations among agents play more significant roles than pure market mechanisms in the (re)production of housing space.