Korean Skilled Workers

Toward a Labor Aristocracy

Hyung-A Kim, Clark W. Sorensen

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780295747200
• eBook ISBN: 9780295747224
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Korean History
• Index: History

South Korea's triumphant development has catapulted the country's economy to the eleventh largest in the world. Large family-owned conglomerates, or chaeb?ls, such as Samsung, Hyundai, and LG, have become globally preeminent manufacturing brands. Yet Korea's highly disciplined, technologically competent skilled workers who built these brands have become known only for their successful labor-union militancy, which in recent decades has been criticized as collective "selfishness" that has allowed them to prosper at the expense of other workers. Hyung-A Kim tells the story of Korea's first generation of skilled workers in the heavy and chemical industries sector, following their dramatic transition from 1970s-era "industrial warriors" to labor-union militant "Goliat Warriors, " and ultimately to a "labor aristocracy" with guaranteed job security, superior wages, and even job inheritance for their children. By contrast, millions of Korea's non-regular employees, especially young people, struggle in precarious and insecure employment. This richly documented account demonstrates that industrial workers' most enduring goal has been their own economic advancement, not a wider socialist revolution, and shows how these individuals' paths embody the consequences of rapid development.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Announcement Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Note on Korean Romanization
• Introduction: Unveiling Korean Skilled Workers
• 1. The Creation of Industrial Warriors: Mass Training of the First Generation of Skilled Workers
• 2. From Industrial Warriors to Goliat Warriors: A New Labor Militancy
• 3. Counterrevolution: The Corporate Culture Movement and HCI Workers’ Response
• 4. The Asian Financial Crisis: HCI Workers’ Social Closure and the Rise of Chaebŏl Dominance
• 5. The Rise of HCI Workers: A Labor Aristocracy vis-à-vis Nonregular Workers
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1. Characteristics of Hyundai WIA Corporation Respondents
• Appendix 2. Characteristics of Doosan Heavy Industries Respondents
• Appendix 3. Characteristics of Hyundai Heavy Industries Respondents
• Appendix 4. Korean Educational Institutions by Type, Age at Entry, and School Year
• Appendix 5. Training and Ranks of Engineers and Craftsmen
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index