There was a substantial change in the environment of the financial sector in the mid-1980s. In 1986, the current account shifted to a surplus from perennial deficits, alleviating the chronic difficulty of a shortage of domestic savings in the national economy. due to the achievement of price stability from 1982 on-wards, the demand for financial assets greatly increased and became more diversified. while domestic banks were eager to expand and diversify the scope of their business abroad, pressure from leading industrial countries for the opening of the domestic financial market was greatly intensified. to cope and the government actively pursued financial liberalization and internationalization.
The cornerstone of financial liberalization ws laid in December of 1988, with the extensive deregulation of interest rates of banks and non-bank financial services industry, entry barriers were further lowered and, in 1989, three new commercial banks were established. In a similarly motivated development, a number of securities investment trust companies were set up in 1989 and, in the four-year period from 1987 to 1990, eighteen life insurance companies were established. The latter comprised thirteen domestic companies and five joint-venture companies. In addition, four foreign life insurance companies were allowed to open branches in Seoul.
Throughout this period, a series of measures had been takento grant commercial banks even greater automy in iternal management, leaving in place only the minimum restrictions necessary for the