ABSTRACT
The governments of Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo Hwan did not believe in the right of workers to organize independent unions, much less to strike. The history of the labor movement for the generation after the Korean War was one of subterranean struggle in which workers were routinely arrested, tortured and sentenced to prison terms for organizing resistance to the excesses of management and their collaborators in company “unions.” The police under Park and Chun were so harsh that they could — and did — smash any sign of worker revolt as soon as it appeared. Hyundai epitomized this attitude. The group, from Chung Ju Yung down to the lowliest manager, was repressive even by Korean standards. Chung at heart believed factory workers should obey blindly as did day laborers in the construction industry, where anyone bold enough to talk back, much less complain, was fired on the spot.
