Unlike most European and many developed countries in the 1990s, South Korea reinforced social security rather than downsizing its arrangements. It did so either by launching new social insurance systems or by covering self-employed people previously not covered.

In an era marked by globalization, many domestic and oversees scholars regard this change in South Korea as an exemplary case of a unique path designed to meet economic as well as societal demands. In order to analyze the effects of expanding social insurance in Korea during the 1970s-1990s, this paper will discuss social security and its contribution to economic and societal growth in terms of various dimensions. Statistical methods are used for that purpose. Most of the data used in this study are collected from the National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) database.