Korea's Development Under Park Chung Hee by Kim Hyung-A

Author:Kim, Hyung-A
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

The purpose of the Factory Saemaŭl Movement, in Park's words, was to instill a new family culture within the corporate state, incorporating “family-like labor–management ties,” the philosophical nexus being that “my cooperation [H11005] my family [H11005] my fatherland.” This Korean-style concept was adopted as an official guideline for the Urban Saemaŭl Movement by the Ministry of the Interior. The Factory Saemaŭl Movement was also a mechanism used by Park for managing labor disputes and maintaining industrial order, which proved particularly effective during the 1973–4 oil crisis.11 Unlike the Saemaŭl Movements of other public and social organizations, the Factory Saemaŭl Movement was coordinated independently by the Korean Chamber of Commerce, with a chapter established in each province or city or equivalent area. Similarly, there were a total of twelve Factory Saemaŭl education centers throughout the country. Of these, two centers, located in Seoul and Pusan, were run by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, which managed to train a total of 46,531 “high and middle level managers” between 1973 and 1979. During the same period, the other ten “private” centers, including Ganahan Farmers’ Schools, trained a total of 144,733 leaders of the Factory Saemaŭl Movement (Ki Hyuk Park 1981: 185).

Upon the completion of their training, these leaders were responsible for organizing training for their fellow workers in their respective factories. The training aimed, as already noted, to promote harmony and unity between employers and employees, while increasing productivity. Its ideals were reflected in the slogan, “Sawŏnŭl kajok ch’ŏrŏm, hoesarŭl naejip ch’ŏrŏm” (Employees like family; the company like my home).12 This slogan, and others like it, spread widely among large-scale Korean chaebŏl companies throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, and undoubtedly served a purpose, especially for the state's control over the labor movement. In fact, many key policy-makers of the time claim that the phenomenal success of the HCI program was due largely to the Factory Saemaŭl Movement, particularly in its “attitude” training for management. This view, of course, was not that of the majority of workers, the “minjung,” who believed that the success of the HCI program was due to their unmitigated exploitation. The increasing industrial disputation and related activity of the labor movement in the late 1970s, especially the female factory workers’ struggle that ultimately played an important part in Park's demise (see Chapter 7), reflected the severity of the impasse between the state–employers and workers. As a means to solving the mounting conflict, Park made Saemaŭl Leaders’ Training compulsory, the South Korean version of Kim Il Sung's political thought training of the masses.

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