South Korea Social History
Until 1992, South Korea was an authoritarian military dictatorship
–“a peacetime economy with a warlike mentality,” according to Kohli.
What did this mean in terms of work and social conditions?
The authoritarian rule in South Korea borrows a lot of traits from a perfect dictatorship. In South Korea, Park Chung Hee came into power in 1961 after a successful military coup. He was a top-ranking military soldier adapted to dealing in politics using unnecessary force, which got him assassinated in 1979. After a few arrests, some violence, and a bit of repression, they established their authority. With one central figure at the top, General Park Chung Hee, the objective appeared legitimate claims.
Social Conditions
The society in South Korea is very uniform in terms of ethnicity and linguistics. The leader had plans to modernize the economy and nationalism without credence to democratic politics. By reshaping the school curriculums, he sought to change the relationship of Korean families with the state. In a bid to influence society, populist values and anti-elitists ideas (like egalitarianism) spread to cope with opposition in urban centers. In rural areas, he used the New Community Movement. The success here was more comfortable since industrialization successes meant the shrinking of the agricultural sector.
So, in the beginning, the regime set up high standards for the ideal state of affairs. Then when the society demanded pluralism, the administration turned towards state corporatism initially and later on the repression of the same unions meant to defend their people. The economic bearings of the state seemed to be the only essential plan. General Park chose specific business firms, ensured their success in aligning their objectives with that of the country through management under competent bureaucracies and, at the same time sacrificing small and medium-sized businesses. While lacking a stronger cordial relationship with labor, federations deprived the regime of a social pact that could have saved them from their eventual downfall. Employing the Yushin system was the breaking point.
Working Conditions
The establishment of the authoritarian regime was when South Korea had characteristics that showed mid-level development socially and economically by world standards. It did not belong to the poorest nations, and its citizens were not the least educated. Organized labor movements got repressed, and the insignificant inducements given to labor movements were inadequate to rally enough labor support to resist the regime. At the beginning of his rule, the state chose to employ state corporatism (Japan’s East Asian Model) – and also have control over the unions (Crotty & Lee, 2001). Any union leaders who emerged having a different schedule from the policies of the regime got arrested, and union federations with nationwide support with different agendas faced banning.
Procedures used in choosing union leaders faced government interference, and unions did not qualify to have political agendas. Creating joint labor-management committees was mandatory as a front for collective bargaining. Yet, the industrial-level associations persisted. Increased economic growth meant radical responses hence the application of the Yushin response team. In this system, the industrial-level unions’ influence dissipated, and any collective actions became illegal. Labor protests of any sort leveled as opposed to the regime. The military, in particular, applied extreme levels of repression using brute force. It led to colossal opposition by workers and labor union leaders, eventually toppling that system around 1979.
References
Crotty, J. R., & Lee, K. (2001). Korea’s Neoliberal Restructuring: Miracle or Disaster? Political Economy Research Institute, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 26, 1-7. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23693616_Korea’s_Neoliberal_Restructuring_Miracle_or_Disaster