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The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), also known as Minju-nochong ((朝鮮語:민주노총); acronym for ''KCTU'' in Korean language) is a national trade union centre officially established in 1995. Its predecessor was the National Council of Trade Unions (NCTU), established in 1990 as an independent alternative to the Federation of Korean Trade Unions. With 682,418 members in 2007, the KCTU accounted for 40.6% of trade union members in South Korea.〔(Unionization rate in 2007 stands at 10.8 percent first upward move in 18 years ) ''Korea International Labour Foundation'', 19 September 2008. Accessed 2009-04-09.〕 The KCTU has more than 1,200 affiliated enterprise-level trade unions.〔(This is KCTU ) ''KCTU English webpage''. Accessed 2009-04-09.〕 It is the second largest trade union national center in South Korea, following the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU). On 1 April 2009, KCTU delegates at a special session elected Lim Seong-kyu as President.〔(KCTU elects a new president ) The Hankyoreh, 2 April 2009. Accessed 2009-04-09.〕 Of the two, the KCTU is generally considered to be the more militant. In 2008, during massive "mad cow protests" the KCTU declared a general strike to protest the import of US beef on grounds that consuming the allegedly tainted beef could damage worker productivity.〔(South Korea seeks top labour leader's arrest )〕 In 2009, the union came under intense criticism for its cover up of the attempted sexual assault of a female union member by a high ranking union leader.〔(Truth behind sexual assault cover-up at KCTU revealed )〕〔(Four resign in KCTU sexual assault scandal )〕 The KCTU's perceived militancy and preoccupation with political matters unrelated to working conditions has also caused it to suffer a loss of members.〔(4 unions cut ties with KCTU, citing unnecessary strife )〕 In July 2009, the KCTU was ordered to pay for the damages incurred from its destruction of 11 police vehicles during a violent rally two years previously.〔(Court orders labor body to pay for destroyed police buses )〕 ==Background== After the liberation from the Japanese in 1945, and the subsequent coup d’etat in 1961, by Park Chung Hee, there existed only one legal trade union federation in Korea, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU). Park’s regime was truly authoritarian, to the extent he suppressed all political and business leaders they deemed corrupt. In essence, he arbitrarily restructured the unions and permitted only those he and his regime regarded as "loyal" to their cause. As a result, for almost two decades under the military regime of President Park, FKTU was substantially weakened and became subordinate to the repressive state and capital, the family owned conglomerates or chaebol, who dominated and monopolized the industries in Korea who incessantly expanded with the help from the government. Hence, the labor movement became very fragmented; nevertheless, they operated through localized unions, such as the miners, textile workers, anti-political activists, and various Catholic groups. By the 1990s, with the demise of the military regimes, chaebol groups of Korea began to reassert themselves with the introduction of automation production processes, decentralized factory location of production sights, and began to relocate the production to overseas, exacerbating the situation even further. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Korean Confederation of Trade Unions」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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