Korea's Workweek Revolution

By MARK MAGNIER

Nov. 18, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SEOUL —

Kim Su Hwan imagines catching the biggest fish alive. Choi In Woon wants to perfect his badminton game. Kim So Hyon would just sleep a lot.

The three wage warriors and millions of fellow countrymen are busy spending future leisure time in their heads, as South Korea considers moving from a six-day workweek to the five-day version that is standard in the U.S., Japan and Western Europe.

Korea also hopes to accomplish the shift in apparent defiance of conventional economic logic. A government proposal, strongly supported by labor unions, calls for employees to work 300 to 500 fewer hours a year--for the same pay.

“What’s not to like,” said Cho In Ho, a hotel bellman. “Anyone who works loves the idea.”

The government thinks it can pull off this trick because it did so once before. In 1989, South Korea told companies to trim work hours to 2,500 annually from 2,700 without paring their payrolls.

The big difference this time, employers say, is that South Korea isn’t the insular, command economy it was in the late 1980s and its workers aren’t exploited, underpaid victims. The economy is far more dynamic, and workers are well organized, politically active and the beneficiaries of wage increases that routinely outpace productivity.

Add the current global political skittishness, recession fears and South Korea’s own uncertain outlook and you’ve got an idea whose time has not come, some companies say.

“It’s premature. We’re not an advanced country yet,” said Kim Jung Tae, research director with the 4,000-member Korea Employers Federation. “ If anything, our members’ reluctance has increased since the Sept. 11 attack, given everything else we now face.”

Labor unions say there’s never a perfect time, that higher wages will force South Korea to shift into more sophisticated industries and that employees and Korean society will be happier, healthier and more relaxed.

Both sides can agree on one thing: Koreans toil long hours, but they don’t necessarily toil effectively. According to the International Labor Organization, Koreans work 2,474 hours a year, compared with 1,979 for Americans and 1,859 for the Japanese. But they’re also 62% and 45% less productive, respectively.

Sleeping, eating, lounging, Internet shopping, stock trading and card playing are common during workdays that can last from 8 in the morning until 10 at night. Analysts attribute the widespread mixing of work and play in part to South Korea’s rapid shift from farm to factory to fluorescent-lighted offices.

“Korea is an agricultural country, so there’s been no real distinction between employer and employee, home and work,” said Chang Young Chul, chairman of the Tripartite Commission, representing labor, management and the government in the negotiations. “The U.S. had hundreds of years of commercial activity, while Korea’s had only a few.”

Adding to the long hours is a top-down work culture that frowns on subordinates leaving the office before their bosses, --even if their work is done, and a culture that places a premium on work-related socializing.

For Park Kang Woo, policy director of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the solution is clear: Drop working hours to a reasonable level and you’ll see fewer accidents and higher productivity. “Workers tend to lose concentration after eight hours,” he said.

There is a precedent. In 1998, Yuhan Kimberly Corp., a maker of household products, switched to a five-day week without paring paychecks. Accident and defect rates fell and productivity gains were enough to cover the reduced time, a company spokesman said.

Still, the experience of one internationally managed company doesn’t reflect what might happen across an entire economy, economists say, and employers are being asked to pay out in advance what could amount to a 15% hourly wage hike for benefits that may not materialize.

“We still need to build the economy at this stage, not our quality of life,” said Kim Bo Soo, a researcher on competitiveness with the Federation of Korean Industries.

Why the hurry to accomplish such a Herculean feat? Japan took 10 years to make a similar transition starting in 1987, when it had a per capita income of about $19,000, compared with South Korea’s $9,700 today. Greece and Portugal started their switch-overs in 1997, and are giving themselves a decade as well. And Hong Kong and Singapore are easing in that direction under a more voluntary process.

The government says the move is a way to show that South Korea is a developed nation. The change also will boost flagging consumption, spur regional tourism and help local economies as city dwellers head for the country to enjoy nature’s beauty. Critics have a more jaundiced view: “It’s politically motivated,” said Kim of the Korean Employers Federation. “It’s hugely popular, and the government wants to get credit for it, especially with local and national elections coming next year.”

Putting aside the economic arguments, shifting a nation’s labor market with one big swipe isn’t easy. “This kind of switch to a five-day system is very revolutionary,” said Lee Bu Young, vice president of the opposition Grand National Party. “It’s inevitably troublesome.”

Among the many thorny issues is holidays. Koreans now enjoy 17 national days off, two weeks of annual leave, an added day’s vacation per year worked and 12 additional bonus days annually. Large companies often add three or four more personal days, and women get an additional 12 menstruation days. Add these to the 52 days gained by not working Saturdays, and South Korea would race to the head of the global vacation class, trumping even the cafe-lounging French. By some counts, the days-off total could soar as high as 165, compared with France’s 145 and the U.S.’ 142. (According to the Korean Labor Research Institute, Koreans and Americans use only about 85% of their holidays, but the French take almost all their allotment.)

Another concern is the status of women. Statistically, about 80% of South Korean women don’t take their menstruation leave, in many cases out of concern that it reinforces stereotypes. “I’ve never asked for it. If you use it, everyone looks at you like you’re strange,” said Chung Ok Jin, 30, who’s taking a break from her administrative job to raise a daughter. “They should do away with them. They’re really awkward.”

Most women get a bit more pay instead of taking the days off, so eliminating the leave could further reduce women’s income--which is 32% less than men’s on average--undermining their bid for equality. Chung has a better idea: “Forget about the menstruation business and just boost our pay directly.”

Another worry is whether too much relaxation might undermine South Korea’s power, accomplishments and work ethic. “We just can’t afford to be lazy or relaxed,” said Choi In Woong, a civil engineer. “If we do, the next generation will become even lazier.”

Although the prospect of all this extra leisure time has travel companies, baseball stadiums and sports equipment companies salivating over a hoped-for flood of discretionary spending, some see trouble ahead.

Chong Do Won, manager of a small advertising company, frets that all this free time would boost social tension in a country that has traditionally prided itself on its homogeneity. “People would become very jealous and hateful if one person goes off skiing and the other is sitting in their dingy apartment,” he said. “It’s a big problem.”

Trying to pull together all these economic, social and political pieces is the job of the Tripartite Commission, which admits to a lot of headaches these days. “It’s difficult to find a balance with all these issues,” said Agency Chairman Chang. “But Koreans are used to living with complexity, and I hope we can do it.”

The government hopes to nail down a deal by year’s end. But business groups, particularly those representing small companies, are dragging their heels, and some labor groups are becoming more defiant. If an agreement is reached soon, most expect government employees to enjoy the benefits first, followed by those at large companies and eventually workers at small companies.

Although the gap has been narrowed in several areas, differences in overtime and phase-in dates remain. One proposal would have South Korea moving closer to the Japanese standard on holidays--132 a year--with some sort of grandfather clause for experienced workers. Other proposals call for keeping certain holidays for a few years until the brouhaha dies down, then gradually eliminating them. “We need to figure out a way so everyone can look like a winner,” said Kim of the employers federation.

For Woo Hae Na, 27, it won’t be soon enough. She recently left her public relations job at a Korean company to work at a Japanese electronics multinational, largely so she could enjoy her weekends. Now she’s wants her envious friends at Korean companies to enjoy the same benefits.

“When I get up now on Monday morning, I want to go to work,” she said. “At my old company, I’d drag myself in and feel grouchy all week.”

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TOILING AWAY

South Koreans work longer than their counterparts in most other most other countries but they are less productive. Some say a government proposal to compress the Korean six-day workweek into five days would boost productivity.

Average hours worked per person each year:

South Korea: 2,474

Czech Republic: 2,092

United States: 1,979

Japan: 1,859

New Zealand: 1,817

Hungary: 1,795

United Kingdom: 1,720 *

Germany: 1,480

* 1999 data (most recent year available)

Source: International Labor Organization “Key Indicators of the Labour Market 2001-2002”

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