Strategic Choice for Advanced Industrial Relations in Korea

This study aims to emphasize the role of strategic choice of unions, managers, and government in the process of transformation of Korean industrial relations in hyper-competition periods. Over the last three decades, the remarkable growth of Korean economy has received much attentions from western academics and business people. This growth is based not only on progressive entrepreneurship but also the high qualitative labor forces of low cost. During these periods, however, Korean industrial relations had been suffering from various problems, such as severe labor-management disputes, large and long-term strikes, and illegal labor-management's activities. So Korean company's competitive capability is weakened. Korean industrial relations is characterized by complexity of issues, mixture of values, and dynamics of activities. Now. Korean industrial relations stands in a turning point. I think Korean industrial relations system can and be said to have being undergone trans formation. because the network of basic assumptions and principles underlying that system, or its deep structure. is changed, and such change is due to hyper-competitiveness, globalization, deregulation of markets, and automation. I think that the basic orientations of Korean industrial relations in 21C should be productivity and community-oriented industrial relations. That is the strategic choice of Korean industrial relations. To achieve these goals several issues to be resolved are followed: the establishment of industrial relations's infrastructure. the advancement of industrial relationss institutions and the support of participation in unions. managers. government. But more important issue is actor's role who implement it. In this sense. unions', managers', and government's strategic choice are critical to achieve productivity and community-oriented industrial relations. With this paper, I hope to contribute to a better understanding of the role of unions, managers, and government's strategic choice to achieve productivity and community. oriented industrial relations