Promises and reality of labor reform in South Korea

AutorJeong-Hee Lee
CargoResearch Fellow at the Korea Labor Institute
Páginas766-787
Cadernos do CEAS, Salv ador/Recife, n. 248, p. 766-787, set./dez., 2019 | ISSN 2447-861X
PROMISES AND REALITY OF LABOR REFORM IN SOUTH KOREA
1
Promessas e realidade da reforma do trabalho na Coreia do Sul
Jeong-Hee Lee
(Research Fellow at the Korea Labor Institute)
Informações do artigo
Recebido em 23/09/2019
Aceito em 05/11/2019
doi>: https://doi.org/10.25247/2447-861X.2019.n248.p766-787
Esta obra está licenciada com uma Licença Creative
Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional.
Como ser citado (modelo ABNT)
LEE, Jeong-Hee. Promises and reality of labor reform in
South Korea. Cadernos do CEAS: Revista Crítica de
Humanidades. Salvador, n. 248, set./dez., p. 766-787,
2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25247/2447-
861X.2019.n248.p766-787
Abstract
The l abor market i n K orea is characterized b y a 'segme nted
labor market' in whi ch ther e exi sts discri mination based on
enter prise size and employment t ype. It is beli eved that the
labor market, along with fragmented industrial relations, has led
to a viciou s cycle in which ine quality continues to widen. The
birth of the Moon Jae-in g overnment in May 2 017, the new
administration pledged t o cr eate more jobs, t o reduce the
number of non-re gular wor kers, t o improve the ir working
conditio ns, and to bui ld a socie ty that respects labor. Such
pledge s raised hopes that the creation of an alternati ve labor
regime would be possible to a certain extent, moving beyond the
limitatio ns of the 1987 regime. The labor world did applaud the
governmen t’s init ial ef forts to e radicate the so-called labor
jeokpye (deep -rooted vices), convert non-regular workers into
regul ar workers in the public sector, raise the mi nimum wage,
and limi t the maximum working hours; but now it argue s that
the g overnment has changed its di recti on in the proce ss of
impleme nting the policies in the labor field. A closer look at the
industrial relatio ns in 2018 r aises concerns rather than
expectati ons.
Keywords: Labor reform. Labor market. Labor rights.
Resumo
O mercado de trabalho na Core ia é caracte rizado pela
segmentação, existindo discriminação com base no tamanho da
empresa e no tipo de emprego. Acredita-se que o mercado de
trabalho, juntamente com as relações industriais fragmentadas,
tenha levado a um ciclo vic ioso que ele va a desigualdade. No
nascimento do governo Moon Jae-in, em maio de 2017, o novo
governo pro meteu criar mais empregos, redu zir o número de
trabalhadores não reg ulares, melhorar suas c ondições de
trabalho e construir uma sociedade que respeite o trabalho. Tais
promessas suscitaram e speranças de que a criação de um
regime de trabalho alternativo fosse possível, até certo ponto,
ultrapassar as limitaçõe s do regime de 1987 . O mundo do
trabalho aplaudiu os esforços iniciais do governo para converter
trabalhadores não regulares e m tr abalhadores regu lares do
setor pú blico, aumentar o salário mínimo e limitar as horas
máximas de trabalho, mas agora argu menta que o gove rno
mudou de dir eção no processo de implementação das políticas
no campo tr abalhista. Um ol har mais aten to às relações
industriais em 2018 gera preocupações e não expectativas.
Palavras-chave: Refor ma trabalhista. Mercado de
trabalho. Direitos trabalhistas.
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This paper is originally based on Le e (2019). For helping r eaders better understand the Korean situation, the
author adde d some basic information on labor market.
Cadernos do CEAS, Sal vador/Recife, n. 248, p. 766-787, set./dez., 2019
767
Promises and reality of labor reform in South Korea | Jeong-Hee Lee
Introduction
When the so-called “Candlelight Revolution,” a vivid demonstration of South Korean-
style p articipatory democracy, led to th e birth of the Moon Jae -in government in May 2017,
the new administratio n pledged to create more job s, to reduce the number of non -regular
workers, to improve their working conditio ns, and to build a society that respects labor. Such
pledges raised hopes that the creation of an alternative labor regime would be po ssible to a
certain extent, moving beyo nd the limitati ons of the 1987 regime. However, a cl oser look at
the industrial relatio ns in 2018 President Mo on’s second year in office raises concerns
rather than expectations. Facing numerous chall enges the ad ministration has los t policy
momentum and the “growth theory” has been re-emerging. The government has been
criticized for being sl ow and incomplete in delivering on its pledges to b uild a society t hat
respects labo r. Against such backd rop, this paper aims to evaluate th e industrial relatio ns in
2018 and present the outloo k for 2019.
This paper is st ructured as follows. Chapt er 2 briefly p resents the structure and
characterist ics of the labor market in Korea, and Chapt er 3 analys es the impact of th e Moon
government’s labor reform policy on industrial relations by focus ing on major stati stics.
Chapter 4 ad dresses the questio n of whether the government’s lab or reform policy can be a
catalys t for the formation of an alternative labor regime and then evaluate s major policies
implemented during the first and seco nd years of the Moon administ ration . Chapt er 5
critically analyse s the direction of labor reform policy based on an evaluation of Chapter 4 to
draw implicatio ns for industrial relations in 2019. Finally, Chapter 6 concludes that continuous
effort should be exerted by the administratio n for the realiz ation of a new labor regime.
Overview of labor market
The l abor market in Korea is characterized by a 'segmented labor market' in which
there exists discrimination based on enterprise size and employ ment type. It is believed that
the labor market, along with fragmented indus trial relations, has led to a vicious cycle in
which inequality conti nues to widen. In t his chap ter, the st ructure and characteristics of the
Korean labor market are presented in the form of key statis tical indicators.

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