1997年，韩国不但遭受亚洲金融危机的打击，更因美国和国际货币基金组织坚持让其提高利率、执行类似华盛顿共识的改革来获取援助而雪上加霜。
In 1997, Korea suffered not only from the Asian financial crisis, but also from insistence by the US and the International Monetary Fund that it raise interest rates and undertake “Washington Consensus”-style reforms to receive aid.