Korean Skilled

WorkersModern Korean Society

October 22, 2020© Clark W. Sorensen

Hyung-A Kim, Korean Skilled Workers (2020)

• A class of skilled workers was created through special technical education and subsequent employment in HCI industry• This “class in itself” became a “class for

itself” (politically active) during the Great Labor Struggle (1987-1992)• The chaebŏl counter attacked with the

corporate culture movement• During restructuring in the wake of the Asian

Financial Crisis the unionized skilled workers “saved what little they could” of their unionized gains by conceding to corporate demands for concessions about non-unionized workers

What is a social class?

• You can slice and dice complex societies statistically any way you want• Typical ”six class” slicing—lower lower, upper lower, lower middle,

upper middle, lower upper, upper upper• Problem: divisions can be arbitrary and may not correspond to

lived social reality

• Improvement—take into account how people classify others• So, for example, the distinction between yangban and non-

yangban, farmer and fisherman in Brandt follows criteria that villagers themselves used

• Bigger improvement—take into account how people classify themselves• In a society where social classes are important the members of

the classes socially identify with one another, and have a sense of social solidarity that is expressed in organizational, cultural, and institutional activities

European Working-Class versus Korea• Artisans (craft workers) were the core of the working-class

movement• They felt moral outrage at the loss of their “ancient rights”

that they had from the medieval guild system• The French Revolution of 1830 (July RevolutionàLouis

Philippe) created a new vocabulary for thinking of citizenship, rights, and democracy

• Political institutions played a key role as social democratic/labor parties formed

• Korea—artisans were few in number and considered the bottom of society• No culture of mutuality, pride in workmanship, tradition of

autonomy, and manual labor was looked down on• Korean war left a legacy of fear labor radicalism

(communism)• Dominant vocabulary was of nationalism, familism,

harmony, national security

What Classes Appeared as Korea Industrialized?

• Different authors have different opinions and emphases

• Hagen Koo—”the industrial working class” as expressed in unions• Sees the industrial working class as undifferentiated by skill or

wages

• Alice Amsden—”salaried engineers and white-collar workers” who managed “industrialization through learning”

• Others—the middle bourgeoisie (chungsanch’ŭng) as expressed in lifestyle (rather than occupation) i.e. Gangnam style

• Hyung-A Kim• Sees early split in the industrial workers between skilled workers

(mostly male) and unskilled workers• The skilled workers’ consciousness has evolved from “industrial

warriors” to “Goliat warriors” to ”labor aristocrats” as the Korean economy has changed

How do Hyung-A Kim’s Skilled Workers Fit into Korean History?

Did not exist during Korea’s initial industrialization (3rd Republic/1960s, light industry with large female working force)

1960s

Trained through Industrial high schools during the HCI industrialization (Yusin, and 5th Republics 1970s and 1980s)

1970s and 1980s

Became militant unionists in the late 1980s and early 1990s as South Korea democratized (Goliat Warriars)

the late 1980s and early 1990s

Had to make concessions in the wake of the Asian financial crisis of 1987-8, and in that process became “labor aristocrats” having benefits that other workers couldn’t attain

1997

Questions to ask

• Why did a militant labor movement develop in South Korea?• Conventional answer:

• Working conditions in South Korean factories were harsh

• Government repression of workers’ organization was severe (strong state/weak society)

• Government-controlled unions (ŏyong nojo 御用組合) did not represent the workers and kept salaries low

• Evidence:• Labor militancy amongst female workers in the 1970s

in which they struggled to create democratic unions (minju nojo 民主組合) and gain “humane treatment” (인간다운대우)

• Yet, why were male workers quiet in the 1970s and early 1980s?• Hyung-A Kim argues they were trained, indoctrinated, and

treated well, and therefore not that discontented at that time

Labor in the Third Republic (1963-71)—before Kim’s book begins

• Park Chung Hee was an elected president, the country was semi-democratic, and labor had room to maneuver• (Original Korean labor law was fairly liberal under the First Republic

because Syngman Rhee wanted support for South Korea in the United Nations)

• 1963 labor law• FKTU (Federation of Korean Trade Unions organized by the

government and controlled through the KCIA—these were ŏyongnojo

• Unions not allowed political activities or alliance with political parties• Only one union allowed per company, and industry-wide unions

prohibited• No third-parties allowed to participate in union affairs (i.e. organizers

outside the actual workers in the factory)

• Labor sympathizers could only do educational activities, not organizing• UIM (Urban Industrial Mission—Protestant), JOC (Jeunesse Ovrière

Chrétienne—Catholic)

Pejorative Views of Workers in the 1960s and 1970s

• Workers called kŭlloja (laborers), and this was something to be embarrassed about

• Factory workers called Kongsuni and Kongdori (female and male worker respectively)• This called attention to their lack of education, and their

countrified ways• (speak rural dialect, rather than Standard Korean)• Unsophisticated style of dressing (촌스럽다=rube)

• Workers accepted some of this• Accepted that their lack of education made them

less qualified to make decisions, but still demanded “humane treatment”

• Small group workshops helped workers learn about their rights, and developed their confidence as proud workers (nodongja)

Yusin Period Labor Repression More Severe (1972-9)

• Martial law, dissolved National Assembly, president given unlimited emergency decree powers

• Further labor restrictions introduced• Strikes banned, compulsory arbitration required for disputes• Factory Saemaŭl Movement (새마을= New Village)

• Self help movement started in countryside and moved to the city

• Mobilized factory workers for local improvements, trained leaders

• Also indoctrination:• Diligence, self-help, cooperation• Be frugal and scientific in lifestyle, and avoid spending

money on gambling, drink, and ritual• Anti-communism• Nationalism—development is an imperative for

national survival, thus work is primarily for national welfare, so workers shouldn’t do anything that would harm Korea’s competitivity

Training “Industrial Warriors” under HCI

• Workers are “industrial warriors” (sanŏp chŏnsa) building a self-reliant national defense (chaju kukpang)—(through defense related industries)

• 1973 Improvement Plan for Korea’s Technical Education System• Establishment of industrial and technical high schools (공업계,특성화고)• Under direct guidance of the Blue House (청화대)• National Technical Qualification System issued certificates

to qualified technicians 기능사• Factory Training Programs (직업훈련소)• Financial subsidies and technological support, with scholarships

and other incentives• Industry-education co-op system (factory grants to school for

students)

• Selected students became ”special soldiers” (특례병) for the construction of core industries—and this substituted for military service

Military Emphasis

• It was largely men who were recruited as technicians (though there were a few women)

• “construction on the one hand, national defense on the other” 일면건설, 일면국방

• Political indoctrination in addition to training• Park argued Korea needs a spiritual

revolution (chŏngsin hyŏngmyŏng)• Anti-communism, economic

nationalism, national unity, discipline • Slogans:

• We can do it (하면된다),exporting builds up the country(수출입국) total renewal (총화유신)

새마을노래 New Village Song

• 새벽종이울려네, The dawn bell rings

• 새아침이밝아네 A new morning dawns

• 너도나도일어나, You and I arise

• 새마을을가꾸세 Let’s fix up a new village

• 살기좋은내마을, My village where life is good

• 우리힘으로만드세 Let’s make it with our own strength

• 우리모두한마음 We, all of one mind,

• 새정신을일깨워 Awaken a new spirit

• 화합번영통일의 Harmonious, prosperous and unified

• 새마을을만드세 Let’s make a new village

• 자랑스런내나라 My proud country

• 우리힘으로빛내자 Let’s make it shine with our own strength

Almost two million trained 1972-1987

• Technical high school 772,526• Vocational plus in-plant training 1,081, 626• These workers concentrated in the industrial cities of the southeast

• Ulsan (Hyundai Shipbuilding and Automobile), Masan/Ch’angwŏn (machine tools)

• Many deployed to construction sites in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States) to earn foreign exchange to pay for imported oil)—particularly in the 1970s• Hyundai Construction—low wages, long hours sometimes led to riots• “The reality of the ‘diligence’ of the Korean workers is very much the product of a

semi-militarized labor force.” Middle East Research Information Project Report No. 61 (Oct. 1977) p23

From Yusin (1972-9) to the 5th Republic (1980-87)

• President Park assassinated on October 26, 1979 at KCIA safe house inside the Blue House compound • Kim Jae-gyu, director of KCIA implicated• Background—Kim Young Sam, representative from Pusan, who had criticized Park for lack of

democracy was expelled from the legislature, and riots followed in Pusan and Masan (where he was from)

• Chun Doo Hwan coup on December 12, 1979 (12.12 군사판란)• 11th Class of the South Korean Military Academy

• May 18th, 1980• May 17th Chun extended martial law to the whole nation with mass arrests• May 18th Chun ordered the National Assembly dissolved

• Student demonstrations in Kwangju put down with such force that the citizens joined in and kicked the army and police out, large-scale loss of life when the city was retaken on May 21st

• August 1980 Vice President Ch’oe Kyu-ha resigned and Chun Doo Hwan was indirectly elected president

Differences between Park and Chun

• Park was authoritarian, but he was also respected• Responsible for beginning Korea’s rapid economic growth and the HCI transition• Not personally corrupt (though this could not always be said about others around him)• Widespread attitude: “Democracy is great for advanced countries, but South Korea is not ready

for it yet.”• His popularity gradually waned as Korea developed and ordinary people felt more and more that

they were being denied the benefits of growth (because, among other things, labor repression kept salaries low)

• Chun continued the Yusin system of presidential rule, but after the initial period of repression gradually loosened controls so people could enjoy life a little bit more• However, the Chun regime was notably corrupt compared to Park• Chun’s wife was known as the “big hand” for receiving bribes, and there was said to be a regular

price list for, say, approval of construction of a golf course (something only the very rich in Korea can enjoy)

• Loosened control on university admissions (after mistaken graduation quota system), and allowed market forces more scope

• Began privatization of banks and loosened financial controls

Political Aftermath of Kwangju

• 5th Republic began with suppression of unions• Many students and activist were sent to prison or “military purification camps” to undertake

forced labor• Unionization illegal at shops with fewer than 30 workers

• Anti-Americanism• Up until Kwangju anti-Americanism had been equated with pro-communism, and it was

something one seldom encountered• Because the US approved withdrawal of South Korean troops from the DMZ to suppress Kwangju,

many saw the US as complicit with Chun, and concluded the US cared more about Cold War alliances and economics than democracy

• Student Worker Alliance• Before Kwangju students had assumed that “political remonstrance” through demonstrations

would bring democracy back, but after Kwangju they realized they needed the labor movement as allies

• Labor, when the movement began to revive around 1985, concluded that democracy would be necessary for them to be able to achieve their goals, so they cooperated with the democratization movement

Formation of Workers Neighborhoods

• ”blind formation of workers’ residential communities’ around thefactories in Ulsan, Masan and other industrial cities• Unmarried workers in densely populated bachelors’ dormitories• Later worked up to company housing (社宅) in large apartment complexes• Close interaction at work and in community allowed workers to build up

informal social ties

• Ulsan was a company town (Hyundai), and Hyundai had the mostmilitary-style management among big chaebŏl• Hyundai dormitories and housing complexes dominated the city

• Masan-Ch’angwŏn was more diverse

The Minjung movment

• The minjung (民衆) are the common people, “all of those who have suffered oppression”• Not a class in the Marxist sense (i.e. not determined by their

place in the mode of production)• Began with minjung theology that emphasized han (feeling of

resentment caused by suffering)• Minjung historians sought the agency of Korean history in the

ordinary people (rather than elite, and great men)• Salvation of the Korean nation not to be found in Westernization

and economic growth alone, but in Koreans’ finding their own, true, indigenous subjectivity that had been buried by overzealous emulation of China, Japan, or the US

• National consciousness could raised by cultivating folk arts• Students formed masked dance troops to raise political

consciousness• Others formed drumming corps to raise hŭng (興), a distinctly

Korean joy, or unleash hanp’uri (한풀이), the release of hanthrough shaman-like ceremonies