PROMISES AND REALITY OF LABOR REFORM IN SOUTH KOREA

Abstract

The labor market in Korea is characterized by a 'segmented labor market' in which there exists discrimination based on enterprise size and employment type. It is believed that the labor market, along with fragmented industrial relations, has led to a vicious cycle in which inequality continues to widen. The birth of the Moon Jae-in government in May 2017, the new administration pledged to create more jobs, to reduce the number of non-regular workers, to improve their working conditions, and to build a society that respects labor. Such pledges raised hopes that the creation of an alternative labor regime would be possible to a certain extent, moving beyond the limitations of the 1987 regime. The labor world did applaud the government’s initial efforts to eradicate the so-called labor jeokpye (deep-rooted vices), convert non-regular workers into regular workers in the public sector, raise the minimum wage, and limit the maximum working hours; but now it argues that the government has changed its direction in the process of implementing the policies in the labor field. A closer look at the industrial relations in 2018 raises concerns rather than expectations.