Political Economy of Labour Reforms in South Korea.
Loading...
Date
2014-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The research is an attempt to make a study on the condition of the labour, and its struggle through mobilisation in the welfare for them. It
is about Republic of Korea under the suppressive industrial regime provided by the authoritarian polity of the State respectively. The
study focuses on the post crisis 1997, of the Tripartite Agreement between the State, Business Groups known as „Chaebol‟ and Worker‟s
Group or Trade union in Republic of South Korea. The research covers a period of ten years i.e. 1997 to 2007 during which significant
changes occurred in the Korean Labour Movement. The selection of group and the period in South Korea for study is not without
significance.The political economy of labour in South Korea is significant as it demystifies in the sense that is to show the illusion
behind raising as one of the Asian Tigers in the post war period and a result a Tripartite Agreement w. The crisis broke the shades of
authoritarian rule, rapid industrialization and compressed modernization in the post developmental state following the„flying geese
paradigm‟ as proposed by Japanese political scientist „Kaname Akamatsu‟. The dissertation treats the space of labour with the State
financial instability and the business groups‟ inefficiency, to provide structural reforms and tackle the problem of unemployment, low
wages, bad and tight working hours, meager welfare scheme.The research is primarily based on long driven demand of Labour in the
authoritarian regime after the Japanese colonization and its long struggle for reforms and democracy with the state and the strong
„chaebol‟ in the post developmental state. The research starts with the introductory not on why, how and gravity of the topic
is valuable for research. It presents with the ideological framework of Marxist and Pluralist approach applied to study the industrial
progress and suppression of labour. The historical summation of labour movement and demand for democracy in the authoritarian led
industrial phase, which was seen to be more violent, as was annihilated by the state. The research significantly presents the political
economy of labour, which characterizes the labour movements with the financial crisis, to the international factors like support of
USA and cold war period agenda. It also gives the account of legal framework for labour and ideological contradiction between the
state and the labour. The research deals with the understanding of „tripartite commission‟ formed its political and economic integration
with the movement of labour. Finally, the topic concludes how South Korean‟s authoritarian rule created „crony capitalism‟ with the weak
fundamentalism and weak regulatory mechanism. The bubble burst which onsets the financial crisis of 1997 marks the new beginning with
Roh Tae Woo government mark the new beginning for democratic government and labour reforms in South Korea. The violent trade
union movement against the economic turmoil created difficulties to the State policy implementation. The period of 1997 to 2007 was
crucial for South Korea as; it has been through the worst phase of development, looking for help to alleviate from its problem, thereby
initializing more radical democracy and structural reforms. The restoration of democracy gives the political stability and labour reforms
leads to trade union mobilization of labour in every respect.
Description
Keywords
Political Economy, Labour Reforms, South Korea
Citation
Singh Amit. Political Economy of Labour Reforms in South Korea. International Journal of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies. 2014 May; 1(5): 73-95.