The economic crisis of East and South-East Asia in 1997 had a rapid and significant impact on the security of the ‘culture’ of labour forces, which includes relations between management, government and workers; and the stability of workers’ employability and re-employability. This was particularly relevant for the Republic of Korea (hereafter ‘Korea’) where workers suffered a drastic rise in unemployment, which rose from 2.0% in 1996; to 7.7% in 1998; to 8.1% in the fourth quarter of 1998 (UNDP, 1999, p. 40). More than 3 million Korean people were unemployed in 1998 (Amnesty International, 1998), which is a significant number in a country with a population of 48 million (Deen, 2003). Whilst layoffs have not been scarce in the Korean labour force over time, the reason for the layoffs changed as a result of the economic crisis. Prior to the crisis, job loss was usually attributed to the situation of the national economy, but following the crisis, individual workers were blamed for not having the necessary skills and attitudes required in the new global economic landscape to either retain or regain employment in the ‘new labour culture’.
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Moore, P. (2009). Globalization of the Labour Culture in the Republic of Korea: What ‘Tripartite Relations’ Mean for Workers. In: Maclean, R., Wilson, D. (eds) International Handbook of Education for the Changing World of Work. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5281-1_45
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