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영어

One of the most severe types of financial crisis is a currency crisis. During recovery process, many social changes occur and legislative responses are required for them. Laws reflecting the facing reality are formed. At that time, IMF requested high-interest and retrenchment policies on condition of providing relief loans. The bankruptcy of companies caused mass unemployment and households that lost its purchasing power didn't consume anymore, which caused additional bankruptcies of enterprises. Such economic phenomena changed overall society. The government eliminated many restrictions and constructed legal systems favorable for foreign investors. Its representative examples are disposal of financial institutions to overseas and opening of foreignexchange markets and they are supported by the enactment of the Act on the Structural Improvement of the Financial Industry and the revision to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. Especially, most of financial, corporate, and investment legal systems were based on the reception of the Anglo-American laws. The changes of the laws related to economy were concentrated in the financial field. The representative changed laws are the Act on the Establishment, etc. of the Financial Supervisory Commission, the Act on the Structural Improvement of the Financial Industry, the Banking Act, the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, the Depositor Protection Act, and the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. Other than them, the Special Act on the Management of Public Funds was established to secure funds for financial institutions revivable through reconstructing and the Act on the Efficient Disposal of Non- Performing Assets, etc. of Financial Institutions and the Establishment of Korea Asset Management Corporation was enacted for sale and arrangement of bankrupt companies. The aspects of business administration greatly changed after the revision to the Commercial Act in 1998. The key axis of the revision to the Commercial Act can be divided into three. The first was the vitalization of shareholders' rights. The second was the installation of a check mechanism inside a corporation. The third was the installation of the Audit Committee. Since the currency crisis, reconstructing has begun for survival in all fields of industry. After the crisis, many men lost their jobs and women began to seek for jobs for their families. In addition to that the ratio of temporary workers in employed workers was increased rapidly. The Act on the Protection, etc. of Fixed-term and Part-time Workers and the Act on the Protection, etc. of Temporary Agency Workers were established. The Act on the Employment Improvement, etc. of Construction Workers was enacted to protect workers engaged in the construction industry. Next year of the currency crisis, the Wage Claim Guarantee Act was enacted to guarantee wage claim for workers. The Labor Standards Act was revised for employment of temporary workers and legislation was established to protect them. To remove disadvantages of women's advancement in workplace and prevent the breakdown of the family caused by excessive work, the Act on the Equal Employment for Both Sexes was enacted in February 1999. In addition, the Act on the Promotion of Creation of Family- Friendly Social Environment was enacted. With regard to the entry of women in workplace, the Act on Promotion of Economic Activities of Career-Interrupted Women was established. Meanwhile, in response to the problems of low birth rate and aging, the Framework Act on Low Birth Rate in an Aging Society was enacted. Considering the main target of layoff was the aged employees at the time of the currency crisis, the Act on Prohibition of Age Discrimination in Employment and Elderly Employment Promotion was established to prohibit age discrimination in employment and promote elderly employment. In terms of welfare, the National Basic Living Security Act was enacted next year of the currency crisis. The crime rate increased as the losses a criminal have to put up with became smaller. Under the situation where people could lose no more because of massive job losses, the motives for crimes greatly increase. To review punishments on the first criminal trials, monetary penalties of punishment concerning property were more frequent than imprisonment. However, sentences exceeded the number of probation. It is considered that the courts sentenced as a strong response to social unrest and selected monetary penalties, instead of imprisonment, for correction of crimes committed due to social-environmental factors, such as difficulty in living or unemployment. Unlike natural science, it is hard to identify what factors caused what kinds of social changes or what legislative changes are responding to. However, the large-scale economic crisis has changed the flow of water in our society and it must have affected all fields both directly and indirectly. The influences of the currency crisis on Korean society can be considered to have both sides of light and shadow.