• Title/Summary/Keyword: inequality

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The Great Depression in High School Social Science Textbooks : Critiques and Suggestions (대공황에 대한 고등학교 사회과 교과서 서술의 문제점과 개선방안)

  • Kim, Duol
    • KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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    • v.30 no.1
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    • pp.171-209
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    • 2008
  • The Great Depression is one of the most important economic incidents in the twentieth century. A significant and long-lasting impact of this event is the rise of the government intervention to the economy. Under the catastrophic downturn of the economic condition worldwide, people required their government to play an active role for economic recovery, and this $mentalit{\acute{e}}$ prolonged even after the Second World War. Social science textbooks taught at Korean high schools mostly referred to the Great Depression for explaining the reason of government intervention in economy. However, the mainstream view commonly found in the textbooks provides a misleading theological interpretation. It argues that inherent flaws of the market economy causes over-production/under-consumption, and that this mismatch ends up with economic crisis. The chaotic situation was resolved by substitution of the governments for the market, and the New Deal was introduced as the monumental example ('laissez-faire economy ${\rightarrow}$over-production${\rightarrow}$the Great Depression${\rightarrow}$government intervention${\rightarrow}$economic recovery'). Based on economic historians' researches for past three decades, I argue that this mainstream view commits the fallacy of ex-post justification. Unlike what the mainstream view claims, the Great Depression was neither the result of the 'market failure', nor the recovery from the Great Depression but was due to successful government policies. For substantiating this claim, I suggest three points. First, blaming the weakness or instability of the market economy as the cause of the Great Depression is groundless. Unlike what the textbooks describe, the rise of the U.S. stock price during the 1920s cannot be said as a bubble, and there was no sign of under-consumption during the 1920s. On the contrary, a new consensus emerging from the 1980s among economic historians illustrates that the Great Depression was originated from 'the government failure' rather than from the 'market failure'. Policymakers of European countries tried to return to the gold standard regime before the First World War, but discrepancies between this policy and the reality made the world economy vulnerable. Second, the mainstream view identifies the New Deal as Keynesian interventionism and glorifies it for saving the U.S. economy from the crisis. However, this argument is not true. The New Deal was not Keynesian at all. What the U.S. government actually tried was not macroeconomic stabilization but price and quantity control. In addition, New Deal did not brought about economic recovery that people generally believe. Even after the New Deal, industrial production or employment level remained quite low until the late 1930s. Lastly, studies on individual New Deal policies show that they did not work as they were intended. For example, the National Industrial Recovery Act increased unemployment, and the Agricultural Adjustment Act expelled tenants from their land. Third, the mainstream view characterizes the economic order before the Great Depression as laissez-faire, and it tends to attribute all the vice during the Industrial Revolution era to the uncontrolled market economy. However, historical studies show that various economic and social problems of the Industrial Revolution period such as inequality problems, child labor, or environmental problems cannot be simply ascribed to the problems of the market economy. In conclusion, the remedy for all these problems in high school textbooks is not to use the Great Depression as an example showing the weakness of the market economy. The Great Depression should be introduced simply as a historical momentum that had initiated the growth of government intervention. This reform of high school textbooks is imperative for enhancing the right understanding of economy and history.

Geographic Distribution of Physician Manpower by Gini Index (GINI계수에 의한 의사의 지역간 분포양상)

  • Moon, Byung-Wook;Park, Jae-Yong
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.20 no.2 s.22
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    • pp.301-311
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    • 1987
  • The purpose of this study is to analyze degree of geographic maldistribution of physicians and changes in the distributional pattern in Korea over the years 1980-1985. In assessing the degree of disparity in physician distribution and in identifying changes in the distributional pattern, the Gini index of concentration was used. The geographical units selected for computation of the Gini index in this analysis are districts (Gu), cities (Si), and counties (Gun). Locational data for 1980 and 1985 were obtained from the population census data in the Economic Planning Board and regular reports of physicians in the Korean Medical Association. The rates of physicians located counties to whole physicaians were 10.4% in 1980 and 9.6% in 1985. In term of the ratio of physicians per 100,000 population, rural area had 9.18 physicians in 1980 and 12.95 in 1985, 7.13 general practitioner in 1980 and 7.29 in 1955, and 2.05 specialists in 1980 and 5.66 in 1985. Only specialists of genral surgery and preventive medicine were distributed over 10% in county and distribution of every specialists except chest surgery in county increased in 1955, comparing with that rates of 1980. The Gini index computed to measure inequality of physician distribution in 1985 indicate as follows; physicians 0.3466, general practitioners 0.5479, and specialists 0.5092. But the Gini index for physicians and specialists fell -15.40% and -10.42% from 1980 to 1985, indication more even distribution. The changes in the Gini index over the period for specialists from 0.3639 to 0.4542 for districts, from 0.2510 to 0.1949 for cities, and 0.5303 to 0.5868 for counties indicate distributional change of 24.81%, -22.35%, and 10.65% respectively. The Gini indices for specialists of neuro-surgery, chest surgery, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, tuberculosis, preventive medicine, and anatomical pathology in 1985 were higher than Gini indices in 1980.

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A Study on the Career Occupational Mobility in Korea (한국의 경력내 직업이동에 관한 연구)

  • 김병관
    • Korea journal of population studies
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.97-128
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    • 1997
  • This paper was set out to study the structure of the career occupational mobility in the early and rapid phase of industrialization in Korea. By analyzing the individual life histories regarding occupational mobility and achievement, I propose a model of yearly career mobility of Korean men and Women during the period of 30 years between 1954 and 1983. With the occupational classification scheme of 5 groups - Upper Nonmanual, Lower Nonmanual, Self Employed, Manual, Farm - the mobility pattern in the person-year mobility table analyzed can be characterized primarily by the strong influence of immobility. The degree of immobility, however, is different by the occupational groups. The absolute amount of immobility can be summarized as being U-shaped. Overall, the pattern of mobility can be explained best by the concept of occupational distance. I then propose a model of relative career occupational mobility pattern that combines the conceptual and theoretical basis and the methodological rigor. The model is based on the notion of the reproduction of inequality, the labor market context, and the life history perspective. The model encompasses the 6 conceptual explanatory factors such as persistence effect, ceiling effect, traditional sector effect, nonmanual occupation effect, alternative mobility channel effect, and occupational distance effect, as well as the effects of both origin and destination occupations. The relative pattern of career mobiliity in Korea can be characterized by the following six findings. First, the persistence effect on the diagonal cells of the mobility table is dominant. Second, a clear evidence of the negative effect of occupational distance between nonmanual occupations and manual and farm occupations is found. Third, the out-mobility from farming took place regardless of the destination occupations. Fourth, the internal mobility within the nonmanual occupation block is high and bi-directional, and is exclusive against other occupations. Fifth, the 'self employed' occupation is serving a peculiar function in both inflow and outflow pattern. Last, the relative pattern of career occupation mobility is asymmetrical in terms of the upward and downward mobility.

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Health Improvement; Health Education, Health Promotion and the Settings Approach (건강 향상: 건강 교육, 건강 증진 및 배경적 접근)

  • Green, Jackie
    • Proceedings of The Korean Society of Health Promotion Conference
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    • 2004.10a
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    • pp.111-129
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    • 2004
  • This paper develops the argument that the 'Healthy Cities Approach' extends beyond the boundaries of officially designated Healthy Cities and suggests that signs of it are evident much more widely in efforts to promote health in the United Kingdom and in national policy. It draws on examples from Leeds, a major city in the north of England. In particular, it suggests that efforts to improve population health need to focus on the wider determinants and that this requires a collaborative response involving a range of different sectors and the participation of the community. Inequality is recognised as a major issue and the need to identify areas of deprivation and direct resources towards these is emphasised. Childhood poverty is referred to and the importance of breaking cycles of deprivation. The role of the school is seen as important in contributing to health generally and the compatibility between Healthy Cities and Health Promoting Schools is noted. Not only can Health Promoting Schools improve the health of young people themselves they can also develop the skills, awareness and motivation to improve the health of the community. Using child pedestrian injury as an example, the paper argues that problems and their cause should not be conceived narrowly. The Healthy Cities movement has taught us that the response, if it is to be effective, should focus on the wider determinants and be adapted to local circumstances. Instead of simply attempting to change behaviour through traditional health education we need to ensure that the environment is healthy in itself and supports healthy behaviour. To achieve this we need to develop awareness, skills and motivation among policy makers, professionals and the community. The 'New Health' education is proposed as a term to distinguish the type of health education which addresses these issues from more traditional forms.

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The Economic Effects of Tax Incentives for Housing Owners: An Overview and Policy Implications (주택소유자(住宅所有者)에 대한 조세감면(租稅減免)의 경제적(經濟的) 효과(效果) : 기존연구(旣存硏究)의 개관(槪觀) 및 정책시사점(政策示唆點))

  • Kim, Myong-sook
    • KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.135-149
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    • 1990
  • Housing owners in Korea have a variety of tax advantages such as income tax exemption for the imputed rent of owner-occupied housing, exemption from the capital gains tax and deduction of the estate tax for one-house households. These tax reliefs for housing owners not only conflict with the principle of horizontal and vertical equity, but also lead to resource misallocation by distorting the housing market, and thus bring about regressive distribution effects. Particularly in the case of Korea with its imperfect capital market, these measures exacerbate the inter-class inequality of housing ownership as well as inequalities in wealth, by causing the affluent to demand needlessly large housing, while the poor and young experience difficulties in purchasing residential properties. Therefore, the Korean tax system must be altered as follows in order to disadvantage owner-occupiers, especially those owners of luxury housing. These alterations will promote housing-ownership, tax burden equity, efficiency of resource allocation, as well as the desirable distribution of income. First, income tax deductions for the rent payments of tenants are recommended. Ideally, the way of recovering the fiscal equivalence between the owner-occupiers and tenants is to levy an income tax on the former's imputed rents, and if necessary to give them tax credits. This, however, would be very difficult from a practical viewpoint, because the general public may perceive the concept of "imputed rent" as cumbersome. Computing the imputed rent also entails administrative costs, rendering quite reasonable, the continued exemption of imputed rent from taxation with the simultaneous deduction in the income tax for tenants. This would further enhance the administrative efficiency of income tax collection by easing assessment of the landlord's income. Second, a capital gains tax should be levied on the one-house household, except with the postponement of payments in the case that the seller purchases higher priced property. Exemption of the capital gains tax for the one-house household favors those who have more expensive housing, providing an incentive to the rich to hold even larger residences, and to the constructors to build more luxurious housing to meet the demand. So it is not desirable to sustain the current one-house household exemption while merely supplementing it with fastidious measures. Rather, the rule must be abolished completely with the concurrent reform of the deduction system and lowering of the tax rate, measures which the author believes will help optimize the capital gains tax incidence. Finally, discontinuation of the housing exemption for the heir is suggested. Consequent increases in the tax burden of the middle class could be mitigated by a reduction in the rate. This applies to the following specific exemptions as well, namely, for farm lands, meadows, woods, business fields-to foster horizontal equity, while denying speculation on land that leads to a loss in allocative efficiency. Moreover, imperfections in the Korean capital market have disallowed the provision of long term credit for housing seekers. Remedying these problems is essential to the promotion of greater housing ownership by the low and middle income classes. It is also certain that a government subsidy be focused on the poorest of the poor who cannot afford even to think of owning a housing.

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A Study on the Regional Development Effects by the Location of a New Automobile Assembly Plant -In the Case of Hyundai Motors Co. in Yulchon Industrial Complex, Chonnam Province- (자동차공업의 입지와 지역발전에 관한 연구 -전남 율촌 산업단지를 사례로-)

  • Lee, Jeong-Rock;Lee, Sang-Seok
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.4 no.1
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    • pp.77-98
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    • 1998
  • In general, spatial imbalance in regional growth is a major cause of social and political conflicts within a state. In Korea, this inequality has functioned as a threat to the state's integration. With the economic development policies by regional industrialization over the past three decades, most of the industrial activities have been concentrated in Seoul and Pusan metropolitan areas, which are surrounded by Kyonggi, Kyongnam provinces respectively. Compared to these areas, Chonnam and Chonbuk provinces have lagged behind in economic development. Therefore, in order to increase the regional economic development of the southwestern region in Korea, the central government has been enforcing several policies aimed at regional industrialization since the 1980s. The purpose of this study focuses on the regional economic impacts of a newly established industrial estate-Yulchon industrial complex- which would act as a regional growth center in the Kwangyang bay area. The Kwangyang bay area consists of several industrial estates such as Kwangyang Iron and Steel Co. and its related industrial complex, Chuam rural industrial estate, Yeochon industrial complex, and so on. In addition, the Kwangyang container port was constructed in 1997. The Kwangyang bay area has been changing to a new industrial district in the southwestern part of Korea as a result of industrialization policies which were activated by central government. The Yulchon industrial complex, which is expected to be completed in 2001, would draw many manufacturing plants. For example, Hyundai Motors Co. has a plan to locate a new automobile assembly plant within the estate. As the plan has high probability to be realized, it will be interesting to study the effects a new automobile assembly plant and its related production linkages have on the region. This study is to estimate the expected structural characteristics of automobile production activities in Yulchon. The following details will be discussed: the regional economic impacts of a new automobile industry in Yulchon industrial complex, the production linkage formation via hierarchical subcontracting systems, the alternative strategies to promote the growth of regional economies, and the scheme to improve the auto-parts and components industry in Kwangju and Chonnam provinces by establishing auto-mobile production function. Automoblie industry generally gives great influences on not only regional economies but the related industries, for example, the firms producing automotive components. If a new plant producing automobiles and its related firms producing components are to be established in Yulchon, they will affect on the regional development directions and change the regional characteristics of industrial structure. In order to increase the spread effects of the new industry in Yulchon industrial complex, almost all of the automobile production processes must be organized concurrently within a limited range of distance. There is an imperative that the co-operation system should be structured between the assembly firm and many firms producing its components. In addition to those, it would be required such as the effective division of labors between the firms, much more capabilities in the technical innovations, and the reconstruction of interrelationship between the labor unions and the firms' managers.

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자녀양육비의 추정

  • 김원년
    • Korea journal of population studies
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.28-38
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    • 1987
  • This paper was set out to study the structure of the career occupational mobility in the early and rapid phase of industrialization in Korea. By analyzing the individual life histories regarding occupational mobility and achievement, I propose a model of yearly career mobility of Korean men and Women during the period of 30 years between 1954 and 1983. With the occupational classification scheme of 5 groups - Upper Nonmanual, Lower Nonmanual, Self Employed, Manual, Farm - the mobility pattern in the person-year mobility table analyzed can be characterized primarily by the strong influence of immobility. The degree of immobility, however, is different by the occupational groups. The absolute amount of immobility can be summarized as being U-shaped. Overall, the pattern of mobility can be explained best by the concept of occupational distance. I then propose a model of relative career occupational mobility pattern that combines the conceptual and theoretical basis and the methodological rigor. The model is based on the notion of the reproduction of inequality, the labor market context, and the life history perspective. The model encompasses the 6 conceptual explanatory factors such as persistence effect, ceiling effect, traditional sector effect, nonmanual occupation effect, alternative mobility channel effect, and occupational distance effect, as well as the effects of both origin and destination occupations. The relative pattern of career mobiliity in Korea can be characterized by the following six findings. First, the persistence effect on the diagonal cells of the mobility table is dominant. Second, a clear evidence of the negative effect of occupational distance between nonmanual occupations and manual and farm occupations is found. Third, the out-mobility from farming took place regardless of the destination occupations. Fourth, the internal mobility within the nonmanual occupation block is high and bi-directional, and is exclusive against other occupations. Fifth, the 'self employed' occupation is serving a peculiar function in both inflow and outflow pattern. Last, the relative pattern of career occupation mobility is asymmetrical in terms of the upward and downward mobility.

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Comparison of the Effect of Income-Redistribution before and after the Mergence of Medical Insurance Program for Self-employeds (지역의료보험 통합전후의 계층간 보험료 이전효과 비교)

  • 박재용;박재원
    • Health Policy and Management
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.85-122
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    • 2001
  • This study compared and analyzed the effect of income-redistribution, collecting data on the basis of the estimated details of insurance contribution and individual money wage lists for each one year before and after the combination of medical insurance program for industrial workers, by systematic sampling, extracting 4,160 families(14,764 people) among people applied to medical insurance program for self employees in Taegu City on the basis of Oct. 1st in 1998 with 227 associations of medical insurance program for self employees and medical insurance program for government employees and private school teachers combined, comparing the effect of income redistribution of before and after the combination of medical insurance program for self employees. The insurance contribution by household after the combination of medical insurance program for self employees showed the increase rate of average 20.9%, among them households of 68.8% increased and 31.2% decreased. The effect of income-redistribution was more positive because the degree of inequality was more deepened from 0.64 of the before-combination to 0.45 of the after-one in decile distribution ratio, from 0.26 to 0.34 in Gini -coefficient. Decile distribution ratio on the basis of insurance benefits by household was from 0.09 in the before-combination to 0.14 in the after-one, Gini-coefficient from 0.16 in the before-combination to 0.57 in the after-one was a little lowered. And decile distribution ratio of insurance benefits on the basis of insurance contribution was higher from 1.08 in the before-combination to 1.23 in the after-one, concentration index was a little lowered from 0.14 to 0.11, the effect of income-redistribution was improved in the phase of insurance benefits. The income-transfer rate of medical insurance program for self employees (the occupied rate of insurance benefits/ the occupied rate of insurance contribution) showed a lower trend in all of the before and after-combination towards upper classes, it was known that the income-transfer rate was higher from 1st degree to 7th degree in the after-combination in comparison with the before-one, but the effect of income¬redistribution was high because the income-transfer rate was lowered from 8th degree to 10th degree. The rate of medical insurance benefits (insurance benefits/ insurance contribution) increased from 0.79 in the before-combination to 1.07 in the after-one, and showed over 1.0 under 3th degree before the combination, but all of it was higher than 1.0 under 7th degree after the combination, the after-combination was more improved than the before-one in view of the rate of insurance benefits. As the result of above, on the basis of Oct. 1st in 1998 that 227 associations of medical insurance program for self employees was combined into one, we could say that the equality of imposing medical insurance contribution was more re-considered in the after-combination than in the before-one. But this study analyzed with classes divided, anyway, on the basis of insurance contribution, we have limit in explaining the correct effect of income-redistribution, because it was not analyzed according to classes of income, though it helps to analogize the effect of income-redistribution. So there must be analysis about the effect of income-redistribution, on the basis of the system, building up the system to grasp the correct income of the insureds of medical insurance program for self employees.

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Mencius Thoughts on Social Welfare (맹자사상의 사회복지적 함의)

  • Kim, Young-Min
    • The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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    • no.57
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    • pp.91-125
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    • 2018
  • This study aims at attempting to make a new interpretation of Mencius from the point of social welfare. The thoughts of social welfare, found from Mencius, are temporal and humanistic and near to those in nowadays. Social welfare began under the name of philanthropic work, relief work, charitable work or social work from the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century on. Welfare means the whole social activities such as satisfying the fundamental desires of the social members, ensuring the conditions of their lives, and ultimately achieving social integration and stability. It means the conditions of their lives and wellbeing. Wellbeing means the minimal physical desires and psychological stability. The realization of the economic system through concept of steady livelihood and steady mind, tax system and well-field system, proposed by Mencius, can be ensured by the whole social activities such as ensuring the stable lives of the social members, enriching and satisfying their happiness and ultimately achieving social integration and stability. The thoughts of Mencius include people-as-root idea, which regards people as most important and tries to solve the instability and inequality that are the structural vulnerabilities in modern capitalist society. His concept of Way of the king means promoting people's sense of happiness through education of morality, based upon the people-as-root idea and filial and fraternal responsibilities. The main ideas of social welfare include living like a human being, ensuring minimal physical and psychological stabilities through social welfare system and welfare policy, enriching human dignity and freedom and enhancing the quality of lives. The thoughts of Mencius include all the above ideas. In particular, he desired to establish ethically and morally stable society by economically implementing the well-field system in Zhou dynasty, based upon politically benevolent governance of the politicians. That society was the people-as-root society, the realization of which was the ideal society Mencius desired to establish, and the goal of his thoughts on social welfare. This study, among the thoughts of Mencius, investigated his ideas on social welfare and the practical ethics for applying them to real society. In addition, to understand his ideas on social welfare, not only the social and economic backgrounds and conditions but also the political ideas at that time were also investigated. This will provide the opportunity to make more in-depth research of the elements of social welfare intrinsically contained in his thoughts.

An Investigation of the Delivery of Public Rental Housing in Redevelopment Site in Korea (재개발임대주택 공급제도의 도입상황 및 특징분석)

  • Park, Shinyoung
    • Land and Housing Review
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.51-65
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    • 2021
  • There were strong criticisms against the joint development method: the redevelopment corporation and developers would achieve the whole development profit. The existing tenants who lost their housing in the site argued their right to reside in the site after the development was completed. There was also strong political pressure that the Roh Tae-woo governing administration should resolve the social inequality caused by the situation. In such circumstances, it was introduced that a certain proportion of public rental housing should be built in the redevelopment site; then the government took over the dwellings at a price of construction and allocated them to the existing tenants. The aims of this paper are to understand the rationale behind the inclusion of the public rental housing in the redevelopment sites; and to investigate to what extent the legislation was implemented appropriately. Although the legislation was introduced in Seoul from August 1989, it was not until May 2005 when it was implemented nationwide. At the beginning, there was an ambiguous rule that the number of public housing to be included should be limited to the number of households who would want to remain in the redeveloped site. In 2005 the Seoul metropolitan authority introduced a mandatory proportion; 17% of the total housing delivered in the site should be public rental homes. Since then the proportion. The proportion has been fluctuated by the political agenda of each ruling party: the conservative tended to reduce the proportion, whilst the opposition parties increased the proportion. Currently the proportion is 20% of the total stock to be built. Initially the size of the public housing was exceptionally small- less than 40 m2 but it has increased up to 60 m2 since 2010. The rental price was reasonably lower than market rent. The competition toward redevelopment rental housing that are vacant due to move or death of tenants was very high; it was given to one household out of nine eligible households in 2020.