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The country is experiencing an increasing number of labor disputes according to a Chosun Ilbo survey released Wednesday with 146 to date compared to 108 over the same period in 1999. In addition 45 have degenerated into full blown strikes with much more violence being employed. In response government departments and ministries appear paralysed as union leaders demand to talk directly to the president, and so they have little ammunition to combat the strikes.

Currently, financial unions are set to strike from June 6 and union members evicted from the Lotte Hotel have refused to return to work. In addition the Swiss Grand and Hilton hotels have been hit by industrial action by staff demanding higher wages. The National Medical Insurance Union (NMIU) which has been on strike since June 20 is holding rallies protesting police action in breaking up strikes.

The dispute between the government and doctors and pharmacists is also seen as a ticking time bomb as there is no guarantee that promised revisions to related laws will be completed by July 25, when the National Assembly goes into recess. In addition the arrest of the head of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) and investigation of forty associates has led to doctors to halt negotiations and to again vote on whether to strike.

The Tri-partite Committee's attempts to resolve the financial sector problems at a meeting in Chong Wa Dae on June 5 was unsuccessful as union leaders boycotted the meeting. The Ministry of Labor Affairs (MOLA) admitted that it had problems dealing with this dispute as it was linked to restructuring. The Ministry of Finance and Economy's repeated change of stance and position has resulted in a lack of confidence with it which is why union leaders want to talk with the president.

One of the more worrying aspects of the strikes is the level of violence employed. Park Tae-young, head of the National Medical Insurance Corporation held a news conference Wednesday and said that he and his colleagues were beaten up and threatened by union members on June 30. NMIU chief Kim Hang-sang admitted slapping Park and kicking him once and then inexplicably said "it was out of affection, and no other violence occurred."

Some 3,000 riot police entered the Lotte Hotel in the early morning of June 29 and arrested 1,100 sit-in strikers. A U.S. embassy official complained that they should have evacuated guests first. A guest said that he had never seen such a thing as workers occupying the lobby of a hotel in a strike lasting over 20 days.