Intellectuals in the South Korean labor movement in the 1980's

Abstract

A labor movement is a movement of human beings seeking dignity and equality; the process of establishing a better society for human beings. It is meaningful to study how a country's labor movement has rapidly de veloped, because it can suggest some important factors through which not only the development of a labor movement but also the establishment of a better society can be expedited. Since 1948 (Chun Pyung's1 elimination), the Korean labor movement had been weak and politically dependent. Labor unions had always been controlled by dictatorial governments from the Rhee regime (1948-1960) through the Park regime (1961-1979) to the Chun regime (1979-1987). Throughout these three governments, the FKTU (the Federation of Korean Trade Unions) was unfailingly loyal to the dictatorship. However, in the late 1980s the workers not only economically confronted the capitalists for the improvement of their working conditions, but also politically challenged the authoritarian government for the establishment of a truly democratic society and a democratically oriented economy. Before 1987, labor strikes slightly increased in number from 88 in 1982 to 276 in 1986. However, the number of strikes increased explosively from 276 in 1986 to 3,749 in 1987. As a result of the active labor movement, the level of real wages also increased dramatically since 1987. It rose from 6.4 percent in 1986 to 17.2 percent in 1987, 13.5 percent in 1988, and 17.5 percent in 1989. The 1987 revolt also contributed significantly to the regime transition from an authoritarian government toward a semi-democratic one. What has made for such a rapid development of radical labor move ment? Several factors could be considered. Much has been written about