The increasing acceptance of the view that “important
goals of public policy cannot be delivered through
separate activities of existing organizations (Ling,
2002)” had an important influence on governmental
decision to ‘join-up’ across organizational boundaries.
For instance, no single public agency now has the
resources to engage the powerful chaebols to reform
corporate governance and interlocking ownership structures.
Seen from the resource dependency perspective,
the formation of inter-governmental networks consisting
of relevant ministries and regulatory agencies were
instrumental in reforming various political and economic
systems including chaebols. However, in place of
‘hub agencies’ which previously acted as coordinators in
terms of allocating scarce resources and conferring
responsibilities, higher-ranking public bodies including
the Office of the Prime Minister and the Presidential
Office took on more of a negotiator and coordinator
role.