Nothing new under the sun: South Korea’s developmental promises and neoliberal illusions

The Korean government has strategically promoted the country’s development assistance policies as an alternative to traditional donors’ failed development promises and disguised neo-imperialist policies. This article questions the adequacy of fit between this narrative of exceptionalism and the reality of Korea’s developmental policy prescriptions. Based on field interviews and an analysis of policy recommendation reports produced by the Economic Development Cooperation Fund’s Knowledge Sharing Program, this article shows that Korea is actually ‘kicking away the ladder’ by offering neoliberal prescriptions that are much more in line with global developmental liberalism than its own promotional narrative suggests. Korea is merely aligning itself with the global development status quo. But these prescriptions ease chaebols’ entry in developing markets and contribute to exporting an oppressive chaebol-led transnational labour regime, notably in the Philippines.