The Dilemmas of Empowered Labor in Korea: Korean Workers in the Face of Global Capitalism

In January 1997, one decade after the eruption of a huge wave of worker protests in the summer of 1987, Korean workers caught the world's attention again by staging a massive nationwide strike in protest against newly passed labor laws. The controversial new laws were designed to give employers more power to lay off employees, make it easier to hire temporary workers or strike replacements, and put off allowing multiple unions to be formed at a given enterprise for another few years. The strike mobilized some three million workers and shut down production in the automobile, ship building, and other major industries. It also disrupted services in many hospital wards as well as subway operations and television news broadcasting. Despite the unfavorable seasonal factors involving the New Year holidays and cold weather, the three-week long action received consistently high levels of worker participation and also a surprisingly high level of public support. The strike ended in late January, when the government reluctantly agreed to revise the controversial laws.