• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-28
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• 2018

This paper studies and evaluates the present situation of three decades of 'Minjoonojoundong' in Korea with a long-term perspectives. It had grown up during 1987 labour regime era and has declined abruptly since 1998. The backdrop of this decline was the transformation of labour regime from the 1987 regime to the dependent neoliberal one. The Korean labour movement did not respond to the changed structural conditions as it sustained its old strategies, militant unionism. Now the 'Minjoonojoundong' in Korea has met three difficult problems that are connected with each others. They are militant economism, political economism and formal industrial unionism. However the 'Candlelight Revolution' occurred in 2016 winter has opened a chance of regime change that could strengthen the 'Minjoonojoundong'. The revolution was primarily a political one. But it also created a dramatic situation change in labour politics. The candle-citizen demanded radical change of the polarized Korean society and overflown contingent workers. So it is a time of radical and overall innovation for the 'Minjoonojoundong' and KCTU. And they have to keep the long-term strategical vision of labour regime change.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.179-209
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• 2018

Three dacades of time have passed since the Korean labour movement experimented its political empowerment struggle. Generally it has failed for all some positive results. But unfortunately there were no critical and intellectual reflections regarding the failure within the labour movement. This study drew three conclusions. Firstly, the success or failure of political experiments was caused mainly by the labour regime changes of the Korean society. Secondly, the motive power was provided not by the progressive party, the Democratic Labour Party, but by the trade union movement and organization, the Minjoonochong. Lastly, the Candle-Light revolution in 2016 has produced some new conditions for the second stage of political empowerment praxis in Korean labour movement.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.53-81
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• 2000

Between 1980 and 1997 the Korean textile and clothing industry (KTCI) experienced the transformation of export-led accumulation regime rooted in domestically-derived price competitiveness into the combination between foreign mass production involving the geographical extension of productive forces and quality strategy based on upgrading technology and automation involved in the domestic market for high quality and price products. This restructuring of the KTCI is rooted at the crisis in the export-led growth regime implemented unity 1980 due to the rapid increase in wage levels by the ‘great labour movement’occurred in 1987. In particular, increased wage and collective bargaining realized through labour empowerment led to the crisis in the conjoin between mass production and mass export based on long working hours and low wage structure. The aim of this paper is to explore the transformation of development modes between 1980 and 1997 that can help us in understanding the fundamental reasons for the restructuring of the KTCI. To this end, the paper identifiles the changing accumulation regimes between 1980 and 1997 mediated by wage-labour relations, inter-firm relations and state-film relations, which are insitutional forms of the modes of regulation.