Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dave Chance]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/sep2011/kore-s27.shtml

�Job-sharing� served to subordinate workers to the demands of the corporate elite and slash living standards. It meant wage cuts of up to 30 percent as well as tax breaks for employers to take on unemployed workers or college graduates at much lower wages than previous entrants to the workforce.

The largest corporations in particular have enjoyed higher profits by implementing job-sharing. The Korea Herald reported on August 23 that in 2010, the combined sales of the 539 manufacturing affiliates of the country�s top 10 conglomerates reached 756 trillion won ($US680 billion), or 41.1 percent of the manufacturing sector�s total. The share values of the top business groups reached 698.7 trillion won ($628 billion) as of August 1, accounting for more than 52 percent of the total listed on the stock exchange�up from 44.5 percent in 2008.

Since the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98, the government has encouraged banks to issue as many credit cards as possible in order to boost consumer spending. The Korea Herald reported that as a result of this reckless practice, household debt reached record levels in June, totalling 876.3 trillion won ($762 billion). According to Reuters on August 25, average debt reached 155 percent of disposable income�exceeding the 138 percent level in the US at the beginning of the subprime crisis in 2007.

Like American workers, South Korean workers have been forced to take on more and more debt due to declining wages. According to figures from the National Tax Service last August, per capita earnings for the lowest 20 percent of workers liable for general income tax decreased by 35 percent between 1999 and 2009.

In no small part, this decline in wages came from casualisation of employment. The number of irregular workers�workers without contracts�has risen sharply since 1998. Today, more than half of the workforce, or 17 million people, are considered irregular, earning an average of just 1.35 million won a month ($1,145), or 57 percent of the regular average wage. Irregular workers are also subjected to workplace discrimination and firing at the whim of employers.

The result has been a rapid expansion of cheap labour. International Labour Organisation statistics show that workers earning two-thirds less than median wage comprise 25.6 percent of the workforce, compared to 24.8 percent in the US and 15 percent in Japan.

The so-called �poor class��defined by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development as households earning less than 50 percent of the median income�increased to 3.52 million or over 20 percent of the total in 2009, double the OECD average of 10.6 percent. The so-called middle classes, earning 50-150 percent of the median income, declined from 60.4 percent in 2003 to 55.5 percent in 2009, according to Statistics Korea.

By sharp contrast, the top corporate executives�including President Lee, a former Hyundai CEO�have made extraordinary fortunes. The 2011 list of the 40 richest individuals in South Korea saw a record of 21 US dollar billionaires, up from 11 in 2010 and 5 in 2009. Last year, they added more than $20 billion to their collective wealth, now worth $65.6 billion.

Samsung�s Lee Kun-hee is No.1, with net wealth of $9.3 billion, ahead of Hyundai Motor�s Chung Mong-koo, whose fortune jumped 80 percent to $7.4 billion last year. That was not the most dramatic rise. Nexon online gaming owner Kim Jung-ju leapt 260 percent to $2.06 billion, while Mirae Asset Management Group�s Park Hyeon-joo tripled his worth to $1.5 billion.

Sections of the ruling elite are warning about the explosive consequences of this sharp polarisation between the powerful corporate elite and millions of poorly-paid workers. Former Premier Chung Un-chan warned in July that the gap between rich and poor had reached such a �grave level� that there was a �possibility of our society collapsing.� This was �a more serious matter than relations with North Korea,� he said.

[goreality]

What does this have to do with Bretton woods policies? Debt is high because interest is low, it doesn't take a genius to understand this. It really depends on if Koreans bought assets or not with their borrowings. Average Koreans are living better today than at any point in history. With wealth comes inequality, but with no wealth everyone is equally poor.
Are you sad your other thread spouting your radical views got shut down?
You didn't even post a response there to my comment.

[Dave Chance]

[goreality]

My point is the first article you posted didn't mention IMF or World Bank. So I was wondering what an article on widen income gaps has to do with Breton Woods.
Anyway Your new article is a little more interesting, but again overall World Bank and IMF helped Korea. I agree, growth has slowed recently, but that's more because it's harder to climb the top of the mountain than the bottom.

[rollo]

Yeah what you first posted really did not match the title. There are other reasons for income disparity in South korea. You are aware that South korea did not participate in the Bretton Woods conference. But despite that would you say the amazing economic leap, the boom from the 50's until now was due to Bretton Woods? I would have to think so since Bretton Woods seeems to be such a powerful influence on the South Korea economy.

[comm]

[Dave Chance]

[Captain Corea]

Are you seriously tying suicide rates to bank loans on SK?

And youth suicide, is that because of middle school credit cards being issue en masse?

[goreality]

Imagine the suicidal wave that would roll over the country if they combined cheap and easy credit with legal gambling like in most other countries that already have both?

I think there are other key factors that account for high suicide rates in Korea. If you plan on killing yourself running up a debt and having a little fun first kinda makes sense.

Foreigners have more than doubled in the last 10 years, I believe them and smart phones are responsible for the recent increase in suicides.

[Dave Chance]

[Captain Corea]

Wow, someone killed themselves because of debt. That MUST prove your point, right?

I'd love to see more proof of debt being the causation of climbing suicide rates.

Oh, I'm sorry, you said "coincides"... So basically, that means next to nothing.

An increase in suicides has coincided with the import of smart phones.
An increase in suicides has coincided with trade relations with China.
An increase in suicides has coincided with the rise of reality singing shows.
An increase in suicides has coincided with...

Well, you get how useless sentences like that can be.



I think I get where you're going though - the SK economy is not all roses.
Well, I hate to break it to you, but I don't think anybody on here believed that.

[comm]

[rollo]

. In fact i think all happiness comes from debt. My neighbor borrowed money to buy a car , drove car it impressed woman he got married talks all the time about how happy he is.
So debt makes people more optimistic and happy
The original post was about employment not Bretton Woods now it is about the IMF and connecting that to Korean banks and suicide. WOW!!

[Captain Corea]

[goreality]