Industrial Relations in South Korea: An Historical Analysis

Recently industrial relations in Korea has experienced an upsurge in industrial unrest between trade unions, employers and the state as the militant independent trade union movement responded to the draconian Trade Union Act re-amended in December 1996. This paper argues that any account of the current dynamics of Korean industrail relations needs to place these recent developments within the historical context of interactions between the state, the chaebol and trade unions.