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LEVIATHAN FOR SALE: MARITIME POLICE PRIVATIZATION, BUREAUCRATIC CORRUPTION, AND THE SEWOL DISASTER

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2021

Kyong Jun Choi  and
Jonson N. Porteux Open the ORCID record for Jonson N. Porteux [Opens in a new window]
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Abstract

We argue that the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster in South Korea, in which 304 passengers perished, was a result of the mode and process of privatization of South Korea's maritime police and rescue services. Through the development of a nuanced theory of privatization and use of a novel conceptualization of corruption, coupled with empirical analysis, our study shows that the outcome was symptomatic of a wider trend of systematic bureaucratic rent-seeking. A pro-active private sector ready to capitalize on the opportunity, in conjunction with a permissive political environment, resulted in a reduction of state capacity, with devastating consequences.

Keywords

bureaucratic corruptionprivatizationregulatory mismanagementROK

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Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 27 - 51
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the East Asia Institute.

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