The Evolution of Korean Industrial and Employment Relations

The Evolution of Korean Industrial and Employment Relations explores current employment and workplace relations practice in South Korea, tracing their origins to key historical events and inevitable cultural adaptation in one of Asia’s ‘miraculous’ democracies. This volume challenges common but dated misconceptions of Korean industrial relations fixated on an economically successful but politically turbulent past. As Korea’s employment relations continue to evolve, the accommodations made by companies and labor provide powerful insights for leaders in developing economies worldwide striving for prosperity, stability, and democratization. This book focuses on current realities both social and economic to uncover the potent challenges facing employers and workers in a slow-growth era of union decline. Lee and Kaufman provide a wide-ranging and global perspective authored by established and up-and-coming scholars both in and outside Korea in fields such as labor law, sociology, industrial relations, and labor economics. Up-to-date evaluation, data and analysis provide a modern and innovative perspective on employment and industrial relations practice.Scholars of global and specifically Asian industrial relations, human resource management and modern comparative labor relations will find this book of value. Policy makers and CEOs in emerging economics will benefit from the modern and innovative perspective on employment and industrial relations practice, including CEOs managing workplaces in South Korea.

Edited by Young-Myon Lee, Professor, Business School, Dongguk University, South Korea and President, Korean Academy of Management and Bruce E. Kaufman, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Economics, Georgia State University, Atlanta GA, US and Senior Research Fellow, Department of Human Resources & Employment Relations, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia