S. Korea Summit May Not Do Trick

SEOUL —  In a dramatic turnabout, South Korean President Kim Young Sam met opposition leaders today to seek a compromise on how to stem spiraling national protests and costly work stoppages caused by his party’s controversial labor law.

But it remained unclear whether Kim’s meeting with his political rivals--Kim Dae Jung of the National Congress for New Politics and Kim Jong Pil of the United Liberal Democrats--would placate workers and resolve the monthlong labor crisis.

“This is a very important turning point,” said Choi Jang Jip, Korea University professor of political science. “President Kim took the wrong course in favor of big business, ignoring the needs of the majority of the people. He has finally realized how strong the criticism is of him.”

The Yonhap news agency reported today that President Kim agreed to reopen parliamentary debate on the labor law during the meeting with opposition leaders.

The potential breakthrough came as union members returned to their jobs Monday after three weeks of strikes that had shut down such mighty industrial machines as Hyundai Motor Co. and Daewoo Group’s shipbuilding operation--costing the economy more than $3 billion. Union members vowed to stage more limited actions--weekly one-day strikes--until they win a revision of the labor law.

Kim had earlier refused to meet with his political rivals or consider revisions to the measure, which his ruling New Korea Party rammed through in a predawn, semi-secret National Assembly session Dec. 26 conducted without notification of opposition members. He insisted that South Korea’s faltering economy needed a more flexible labor system--with broader use of layoffs, flex-time and temporary workers--to recover and compete in the harsh global business environment.

But even as he gave business more flexible tools, he refused to give workers the right to form multiple unions in one firm or allow public servants the right to organize.

His perceived arrogance and antagonism toward just one side and his refusal to compromise ignited a public fury and the biggest labor strikes in the nation’s history.

Kim’s approval ratings have plummeted as a broad coalition of workers, academics, clergy, lawyers and civic organizations have rallied against him.

In a recent poll by the Joong Ang Daily News, 73% of those surveyed opposed the labor law and condemned the ruling party for pushing it through. Most shocking for Kim’s party in a presidential election year, the poll also showed a hemorrhaging of public support to 16.9% from 29.7%--placing it behind Kim Dae Jung’s party, backed by 21.8% of respondents.

Facing sinking public support--and international pressure to compromise--President Kim decided to meet his rivals in a move so sudden that even his own aides were not informed until the last minute.

According to South Korean media reports, Kim was heavily influenced by Roman Catholic Cardinal Stephen Kim, who counseled him to show “tolerance,” solve the crisis through dialogue and refrain from storming Myongdong Cathedral, long regarded as a liberal sanctuary and now harboring seven union leaders wanted for arrest. Yonhap reported today that Kim said he would suspend the execution of the arrest warrants for the leaders.

Before the meeting, presidential aides quoted by the South Korean media said Kim also may offer an immediate legalization of multiple unions--which had been delayed for three years under the labor law.

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For its part, the opposition was expected to press for that right as well as stricter conditions on layoffs, a reduction in maximum weekly hours to 48 from 56 and broader limits on the use of temporary workers, said a spokesman for the National Congress for New Politics.

Whether any political compromise will win the support of the militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions--which initiated the strikes and has called for wholesale repeal of the labor law--is unclear.

In a delicate dance to maintain public support, the union has shown a more flexible stance by calling off national strikes in favor of the more limited ones and agreeing to debate the law without demanding that it first be repealed.