Trust has been thought to be one of the indispensible social virtues for the solidarity and coexistence of people, and sustaining and developing a society. In case of Korea, as a result of Japanese imperialism and the great economic success led by aut...
Trust has been thought to be one of the indispensible social virtues for the solidarity and coexistence of people, and sustaining and developing a society. In case of Korea, as a result of Japanese imperialism and the great economic success led by authoritarian regimes, the foundation of trust that supported the cohesion of the society for a long time has been weakened. The purpose of this paper is to investigate mechanism and factors that give rise to the crisis of trust in Korea, and to find the way out of overcoming it. It is composed of four parts. First, a brief summary of previous literature is provided and discussions on the subject are reviewed. Second, empirical researches on this issue are examined and, from it, sociological implications are drawn. Third, the present condition, the structure, and patterns of corruption that is regarded as one of the main reasons for the mistrust of mass on public institutions, are analysed. Finally, general principles of the recovery of the public trust and action plans for leveling up it are suggested. In this, our special interest and consideration will be paid to the so called 'dual approach' of system and life world.