The Korean Trade Movements and Democratization after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis

Abstract

This article studies the role of the South Korean labor movement in developing democracy after the 1997 Asian financial crisis. It examines conditions of internal actors: the labor movement, army, political activists, and capitalists from a historical viewpoint and labor movement dynamics. The role of the labor movement and reaction of internal actors to labor movement dynamics after the 1997 Asian financial crisis are also explored through adherence to democracy by political activists. The goal is to diagnose anti- or pro-democratic sentiments from different attitudes about the labor movement's role after the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The labor movement participated in Korean democratic development after the crisis due to new-found labor movement institutionalization and independence by
non-democratic actors while elites and capitalists accepted negotiations with the labor movement in addition to military reforms by a civilian government’s democratic regime. This additional factor was conducive to democratic development.