Authority and Work in Korea: Has the Culture Changed?
 

Not long ago, following the string of fatal crashes that tarnished KE's reputation, analysts posited that Koreans' culture was partly responsible for the crashes: Koreans had a strong deference to authority and copilots and other staff felt uncomfortable raising issues and problems that contradicted beliefs of senior staff.

But there was the nut rage incident and more recently and perhaps pertinent, the president is impeached and people protesting in Seoul wouldnt stop until she was ousted!

Airline industry reports actually mentioned that applying findings of fatigue science to pilots work conditions and contracts was not straightforward because workers in Korea want to show they take their place and their work seriously by working long hours and sleeping little. An obvious problem if one is concerned with pilot fatigue. But recently the government supposedly launched a new "work-life balance campaign"!

What does one make of this stuff in Korea? Is Korean culture changing?

What can flyertalkers tell me about authority and work in Korea?

While Korean workplaces are moving away from the authoritarian model, the change of pace is on the glacial side. My guess is that it'll take another generation before there is a fundamental change in attitudes.

However in the Korean airline industry most of the pilots are ex-military which makes the usual bent towards authoritarianism more pronounced. KE/OZ give ex-military pilots preferential treatment when it comes to recruitment.

BTW the family behind KE, the Hanjin family are arseholes even by Korean standards. After the nutrage incident the younger brother was breathing fire and vowing to go after the reporters who reported on the incident.

The younger culture is changing, sure, but as the other poster said, the older generation is still in power. As such, people are still stuck in their ways. The government does try to make changes and offer improvements, but they aren't really followed.

Does that mean that I would be nervous to fly on a KE or OZ plane (or even a Korean LCC) ?

Not at all.