New trends in Korean labor interest representation

This chapter analyzes and differentiates between various developments put forward by the Korean labor movement to address Korea’s labor market segmentation and limited growth in labor interest representation. Korean labor’s responses are evaluated against four types of interest representation, described using eight case studies. Systematic analysis of these types’ strengths and weaknesses leads to several conclusions. First, labor heterogeneity leads to deterioration of social unity among workers. Second, as this diversification of labor interests becomes more deeply entrenched, restructuring of the entire employment system becomes urgent. The most pressing objective for the leading actors of the labor movement is to reform the structural framework of industrial relations, while taking developmental aspects of new labor movement practices into consideration.