The concept of Chaebol and joint and several liability in Korean labor law

After a long military dictatorship which ended in June 1987, Korean labor law went through a period of euphoria, during which trade unionism developed rapidly. The dream was of a politically democratized, economically developed and socially protected era. However, the financial crisis of 1997, which engulfed the countries of Asia, turned everything on its head. The Korean government requested aid from the International Monetary Fund, which imposed economic and social restructuring in return. Companies, including chaebols, went bankrupt and the great wave of unemployment swelled. Since then, the labor market has been hyper-liberalized, precarious workers account for almost half of all workers, trade unions have lost half their membership and have not regained it since, wage increases have come to a halt and the inequality gap has never stopped widening. On the other hand, the power of the chaebols is growing. It's hardly surprising to hear the term "chaebol republic" or even "Samsung republic" used. A chaebol is a conglomerate of companies dominated by a family or a "despotic" leader. In 2011, the 30 biggest chaebols accounted for around 40% of the total sales of all Korean companies. So what are their fundamental characteristics? What impact do they have on labor relations in Korea? Is there any specific responsibility attributable to the chaebols? These are the questions that will be analyzed in this conference.