labor rights
The Invisible Hands Behind South Korea's Errand Men
In the middle of the night, Rumi is woken up by a noise outside. Dozens of ‘errand men’ in blue vests and white helmets start smashing the window of her fried chicken restaurant with metal pipes. In no time, they break inside and drag her out. She resists
Government Roasts Paris Baguette for Half-Baked Employment Practices
Going by its name, you probably wouldn’t guess that Paris Baguette’s company history begins in the poverty-stricken Korea of 1945. In a video on its website, South Korea’s SPC Group, parent company of the ubiquitous bakery chain, claims that everything started with a bakery in what is
The Other Side of K-pop and Korean Music: Labor Abuse
Korean music is synonymous with glamorous K-pop stars like PSY, Big Bang, Girls’ Generation and Super Junior. But they are a lucky few that can earn tens of thousands of dollars or more with each performance. They are a very small part of the music industry in South Korea. Earlier
Workload From Hell: S Korea Post Office's Election Blues
In exactly a week, South Korea will hold its 19th presidential election. It’s a busy time for the post office: The National Election Commission has been mailing out over 20 million promotional packages about the presidential candidates. To voters, these packages are an informative and even a fun way
South Korean Construction Industry Silent on Worker Abuse in Gulf States
Editor’s Note: As South Korean companies become globally competitive, more stories about how some of them may be disregarding international labor and human rights standards are surfacing. We share this statement from Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, an NGO which hopes to elicit a response
Weekly Brief: August 29th - September 4th
Sunken Ship, Sinking Commission The Sewol Special Investigation Commission held its third hearing into the causes of the tragic ferry disaster from April 2014, despite the government’s attempts to disband it. The government claims that the commission’s term is up and no further hearings on the
Weekly Brief: August 22nd - August 28th
Migrant fishermen vulnerable to abuse In news that everyone in South Korea should know but very few people hear about, the 22,000 migrant workers in South Korea’s fishing industry face rampant abuse, including unfair wages, exploitation, verbal abuse and physical abuse, in some cases amounting to forced labour