Korean Ruling Class

The Korean ruling class, or Korean power elite, represent those Koreans, who as a result of their upbringing, access to elite educational institutions—particularly overseas studies—as well as extensive family resources, especially access to chaebol wealth and influential social connections, are able to assume positions of influence, privilege and authority in Korean society.

While the dynastical traditions of Confucianism and the historical legacy of the yangban are often used in comparing Korea's modern-day power elites, such parallels belie a huge disconnect and cultural gap between that era and today. As a result of over 35 years of Japanese occupation and subsequent Korean war, which effectively brought that era and its traditions to a halt, any comparisons between today's power elite and those from a bygone era are facile at best.

Nevertheless, subtle comparisons persist and abound between today's privileged class, who have essentially gained positions of influence in modern Korean society on the back of recently acquired family wealth or successful real estate transactions, especially in the wake of six decades of hyper-inflated South Korean real estate prices, or as the result of having acquired blue-chip educations at Western institutions of higher learning, which typically pave the way for prestigious positions in the public and private sector. Nevertheless, despite the disconnect between Korea's past and present, the overriding Confucian virtue of stewardship of the nation's resources, respect towards seniors, loyalty to family and friends, as well as filial obligations to one's past social connections, particularly those spawned in one's formative years, continue to drive Korean loyalties to each other and their institutions.