Economic growth slowed down as the reforms after the crisis introduced a less aggressive system. Banks lent money to households rather than firms as household loans were liberalized. The current account turned into a surplus, but it failed to produce the equivalent increase in net foreign assets because of the large net capital losses. The country now held more international reserves, but it was for self-insurance purposes after throwing open the capital market. The country failed to avoid a currency crisis in 2008, which was resolved through currency swap agreements. The growth rate fell further with the ensuing Great Recession, and the country faced a deflation threat in 2013, but it was slow to use fiscal policy to cope with it. South Korea fought the pandemic in 2020 well but is currently having difficulties with its disinflation policy as it has to heed the risks in international as well as domestic financial markets.

The period from 1945 to 1960 was a mixture of the darker aspects of the time and the brighter aspects of the succeeding period. While there were disorder, division, and war, many of the conditions for the subsequent development were provided during this period. South Korea became an exception among the ex-colonies by escaping from socialism and being closely integrated with advanced capitalist countries. The country built a system whereby private enterprises faced workers with poor labor rights while carrying out the land reform. After the war, the growth rate was not impressive, as the prevalent government failure made it impossible to overcome the market failure. Yet import-substituting industrialization proceeded, through which chaebol emerged as a major player in the economy. The country implemented disinflation, enhanced education level, and began to promote exports, providing a condition for future growth, but the former two rather helped precipitate a crisis in 1960.

The high economic growth was supported by an "aggressive but vulnerable system," with a large current account deficit and the firm-finance nexus tending to produce non-performing loans. It precipitated a crisis in 1972, but the government resolved it with an emergency decree. The government then launched a strong industrial policy backed by expansionary macroeconomic policy through the First Oil Shock, laying the ground for another crisis in 1979. The government carried out disinflation policy in the 1980s, and the high economic growth resumed, now with a lower inflation rate and a smaller current account deficit, culminating in a boom in 1986–1988. However, inflation and the current account deficit returned, though in a milder form. The country sustained the high economic growth by boosting construction investment, and then as facility and intellectual property investments increased to meet the emerging global boom. However, the non-performing loans and capital market openings made the economy vulnerable to crises.