The year 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of Korea’s to the OECD. During these past 20 years, Korea has made remarkable improvements in the standard of living of its population, bringing the country very close to the average income per capita in OECD countries. This rise in living standards has been accompanied by a sharp increase in life expectancy and educational attainment, with the share of the population with tertiary degrees now being the highest across all OECD countries. However, despite these remarkable achievements, Korea still performs relatively poorly in some aspects of the OECD Better life Index, and the population reports very low trust in government and in public institutions more broadly. Furthermore, as in many other OECD countries, income inequality has widened over the past decade and poverty has increased, especially among older people, while the share of young people unemployed or not in employment or training is now above the OECD average. The Korean growth strategy, adopted in 2013, seeks fo foster a “creative economy”, in which entrepreneurship and job creation play a key role, accompanied by greater emphasis on social cohesion, including increased social spending. Effective, transparent and collaborative policy-making practices are crucial to achieving the ambitious economic and social objectives of the Korean government.