Robert Cornett

About what I expected for a Korean movie regarding IMF. Much nationalist sentiment, Korea vs IMF / World/ United States. First issue is that countries don’t declare bankruptcy, governments default on debt, hence the name of the movie. Default equals terrible credit rating equals no investors and no foreign capital. Second issue is what was the reason for the mess in the first place? Would recommend reading Donald Kirk’s ‘Korean Crisis’ for a more detailed dive into the IMF crisis. In a nutshell, big chaebol firms were running companies like mom and pop chains without regard for international financial rules or regulations (transparency, reporting, accountability). Govt forced banks to continue to lend money to chaebols despite astronomical debt to equity ratios. When western institutions got wind of it, capital flowed out and credit ratings sunk. IMF came in and said they had to change, Korea did and now they’re one of the most stable economies in the world.