Kang Yeon Bae is Head of PR and information at the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union (KHMU). The trade union represents healthcare workers in South Korea, and is actively involved in advocating for better working conditions, improved patient care, and increased public investment in the healthcare sector. At the beginning of July, over 5,000 health workers held the 2025 Industry-Wide General Strike Victory Resolution Rally, in which they committed to a general strike if “proper healthcare reform for the people’s lives and safety,” is not pursued. IFWEA spoke to Kang Yeon Bae:
Can you please tell us about your role within your organisation?
Yes – I work as the Head of Public Relations and information at KHMU. Our department consists of two deputy directors and one assistant director. The main responsibilities of the PR and Publicity Office include drafting press releases, media requests, statements, taking photographs, and writing news articles. We publish a weekly newsletter and produce posters and promotional materials. These materials are distributed both to union members and to the general public.
We also manage digital content such as web posters, card news, our official website, and social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and Naver Band.
In addition to these duties, I am also responsible for international solidarity work. Domestically, our union is affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and internationally, we are affiliated with Public Services International (PSI) and UNI Global Union. We distribute an English newsletter about once a month and manage the English version of our website.
Furthermore, I serve as a member of the KHMU Central Executive Committee, which is the union’s key leadership body. The committee is composed of 33 members, including union executives, department heads, 11 regional branch chairpersons, and three leaders of nationwide branches. We hold monthly meetings to implement decisions made at the union’s general assembly.
How long have you been with KHMU?
I am a full-time employee of the labor union. I joined the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union (KHMU) in May 2005.
When I first joined KHMU, I worked as the Director of the Policy Department. Since then, I have served as the General Affairs Director and the Director of the Education and Publicity Department. I am currently working as the Director of the PR and Publicity Department.
This year marks my 20th year with the union. At our union, employees are entitled to one month of paid leave for every five years of service. Since I have worked for 20 years, I am eligible for four months of paid sabbatical leave. I plan to take this leave in the second half of this year.
And what was your journey to get there – how did you come to be involved in the union?
I entered university in 1988, and that was when I first became aware of social issues in Korea.
Just one year before I entered university, in 1987, Korean citizens achieved their first major victory against the military dictatorship. In June of that year, as a result of widespread citizen protests, the direct presidential election system was introduced. From July to September, there were 3,341 strikes across the country – an explosive wave of worker uprisings. These mass struggles led to the formation of “democratic unions” as a significant organisational outcome.
When I started university, Korea was in the midst of intense student and democratisation movements. I, too, became involved. I worked as a student journalist for the university newspaper and became the editor-in-chief in my third year. Through that experience, I actively participated in the student movement and graduated in 1992.
As is mandatory for men in Korea, I served in the military for two years and six months and was discharged in 1994.
After completing my military service, I hoped to work in a civil society or social movement organisation. Through a friend’s introduction, I had the opportunity to start working in a labour union. My first job was with a union in the chemical industry, where I worked for about six years.
At the time, I strongly believed that labour movements could help build a more equal society – one where workers would be the true protagonists. That belief is what led me to become involved in the labour union movement.
And how did you get involved in workers’education?
As I became involved in union activities, I naturally developed an interest in workers’ education, realising that education plays a crucial role in encouraging union members to actively participate in union work.
In 2002, I moved to the Korea Labor and Society Institute and worked as the Director of Education. During this time, I began to think more systematically about labour education and carried out various worker education programs.
Later, when I returned to KHMU as the person in charge of education, I directly organised and implemented educational programs for union members and leadership training courses. At KHMU, we have an Education Committee, which discusses and plans the union’s annual education programs.
More recently, while studying sociology in graduate school, I have been engaging with labour education in a more systematic and academic way. Labour education in Korea has been influenced by Paulo Freire and Marxist traditions. Currently, I am particularly interested in the theories of Jacques Rancière.
I am also conducting historical research on labour education in Korea. I have a strong interest in the labour education that was conducted in the 1970s, even before the democratisation movement began. I am researching the historical development of labour education in Korea, along with various educational theories related to it.
This month, on 2 July, you held the 2025 Industry-Wide General Strike Victory Resolution Rally, to commit to a general strike if demands are not heard. These demands include institutionalised staffing standards by job category, fair compensation, and a four-day workweek; while patients and the public are calling for government accountability in healthcare and care services, and resolution of caregiving costs. Where are you, at the moment, with this process?
In September 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union (KHMU) reached an agreement with the government, resulting in a “Government-Union Agreement.” The agreement included commitments to improve the healthcare system as well as the working conditions of healthcare workers. However, over the past three years, under a conservative administration, the agreement has not been properly implemented. As a result, we are now demanding that the government fulfill its promises.
However, in Korea, strikes over political demands are considered illegal. Therefore, this year, we decided to strike based on demands related to collective bargaining renewal and wage increases.
On 8 July, KHMU submitted applications for labour dispute mediation to the Central and Regional Labour Relations Commissions, covering 127 healthcare institutions nationwide. According to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act, mediation is conducted for 15 days (until July 23).
Following the mediation request, each branch held a strike authorisation vote from July 9 to 17. Among the 60,334 eligible union members in the branches that participated in the mediation process, 52,619 voted, resulting in a turnout of 87.2%. Of those, 92.06% (48,442 members) voted in favour of the strike.
The 60,334 members who now hold the legal right to strike represent 72.6% of KHMU’s total membership of 88,562.
While we will continue to seek dialogue and negotiation, if no agreement is reached, we plan to begin the strike at 7am on July 24. On July 24, 25, and 26, striking members will hold rallies and marches in the streets of Seoul. Whether the strike will continue beyond those dates will be decided by the union’s General Assembly.
On 15 July, the Vice Minister of Health and Welfare visited the KHMU office and listened to our demands.
It is also worth noting that a new Democratic Party administration was inaugurated only 44 days ago. The nominee for Minister of Health and Welfare is still undergoing confirmation in the National Assembly, meaning the ministry currently does not have a sitting minister.
Is KHMU using workers’ education to mobilise members ahead of the strike? What kinds of materials, tools, or sessions are used?
Since the beginning of the year, the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union (KHMU) has been conducting “One-Day Member Education” programmes. Every union member has the right to participate in this one-day, eight-hour educational programme organized by the union. According to the collective bargaining agreement, this education is conducted as paid time.
During the programme, members are educated on the union’s policy direction for the year and the status of ongoing negotiations. The purpose and process of potential strikes are also explained.
The education sessions are held by each of the union’s 11 regional branches, bringing members together in one venue. Typically, 200 to 600 members participate at a time.
The programme uses various tools such as lectures by instructors, video materials, and PowerPoint presentations. Members also participate in group discussions. In some regional branches, members even perform plays as part of the programe. A wide range of creative and engaging activities are included.
In addition, separate educational sessions are organised at the branch level, including specific training for union leaders and delegates.
KHMU has already held two National Congress this year. We also organise retreats and strategy meetings where key union leaders from across the country come together to engage in discussion. Through these collective processes, we share ideas, deliberate, and make decisions together.
In your experience, does workers’ education enable more members to actively participate in union activities and campaigns?
Absolutely. Through workers’ education, union members gain a deeper understanding of the union and its activities. The programmes provide detailed explanations of what the union does, and also create a space for members to express their grievances or demands from their respective workplaces and engage in discussions with one another.
A labour union is not a “problem solver” that fixes things on its own. Solutions must be developed through discussion and cooperation with the members. When workers from different departments or roles come together through union education, the experience of sharing and discussion fosters a stronger sense of solidarity – a realisation that “we are all workers.”
Can you give an example of a specific training or educational session that helped members engage more effectively in this year’s mobilisation efforts?
Each branch utilises a variety of methods. The “One-Day Member Education” programme remains an effective way to introduce many union members to the union’s activities.
Another important practice is the “ward rounds” conducted by each branch. Branch leaders visit union members who work night shifts in hospital wards to introduce the union’s activities. Since the night shift tends to be less hectic than the day shift, these visits are usually conducted at night. During these visits, they often provide snacks such as biscuits, bread, or drinks.
In some cases, branch leaders hold informal gatherings by sharing lunch with members. These are referred to as “lunchbox meetings.”
Are education activities tailored to different roles within the healthcare system (e.g. nurses, caregivers, admin staff)? If so, how?
Since we are the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union and branches are organised by individual hospitals, coordinating the interests of over 60 different occupations is both very challenging and important. Therefore, whenever possible, we try to provide integrated education programs.
You mentioned cultural events like songs – do these also have an educational or mobilisation role?
Currently, the labour culture in Korea is much weaker than it was in the 1980s and 1990s. For this reason, we are making purposeful efforts to strengthen labour culture.
We try to create opportunities for union members to actively participate in rallies and street marches.
We openly invite union members to submit personal stories. We recruit members for a choir. We also look for participants to perform synchronized movements to labour songs. Additionally, we recruit people to join the traditional percussion group called “Pungmulpae.” Song lyrics are also openly solicited.
At the KHMU central office, these lyrics are composed into songs with accompanying choreography. These songs are sung together at general strike rallies and produced as videos. The songs are also used in events organized by regional branches and local chapters.
We believe that a labour culture familiar to union members continues to help organise members. More importantly, it demonstrates that union activities are something we do together with our members.
How are younger or newer members being brought on board and educated about their rights and the union’s demands?
Each hospital provides orientation and education programmes for new employees and new union members, introducing and promoting union activities. This time is guaranteed as paid leave under the collective bargaining agreement.
Afterward, all union members participate in the “One-Day Member Education” programme. Especially for young members, there are opportunities to join the “Branch Labour Classroom” or receive special invitations to union events.
What message would you share with fellow union members as the vote and possible strike approaches?
The struggle of a labour union is important not only for its outcomes but also for its process. Preparing for struggle, organising union members, and taking collective action are all part of strengthening the union itself.
Workers’ education does not happen only inside classrooms. Workers are transformed through the various activities and struggles of the union.
To maximize the effectiveness of labour education, sufficient funding, continuous operation, and phased programmes are necessary. Especially, substantial financial resources are required. This is why industrial unions, rather than company-based unions, need to be established. Although KHMU started as company-based unions, after ten years of discussion, it became an industrial union in 1998. In many Asian countries, unions are still organised by company. Above all, the transition to industrial unions is essential.
We call unions that operate democratically, struggle actively, and act independently “democratic unions.” While improving working conditions and wages is important, unions must also fight for a democratic society, a just society, and an equal society. A labour union must be a guardian of democracy and demand social reform, struggling to achieve it. We call this a union engaged in social movements.
Unions must continuously fight for a better tomorrow and a more equal world.
And it is people who lead these movements. Planning the future of the labour movement and cultivating core leaders who can work tirelessly for the long term is crucial.
9 August 2025 – Subsequent actions after this article was published have resulted in The Korean Health & Medical Workers’ Union (KHMU), a UNI Global Union affiliate, reaching a breakthrough agreement with the government to revive implementation of the historic 2 September 2021 accord, prompting the union to call off its planned general strike after an emergency vote by delegates. Read more here.