Its political system has also undergone a major transformation. In 1986 millions of South Koreans demanded an end to two decades of military dictatorship, forcing the unpopular government of Chun Doo Hwan to agree to direct presidential elections. The democratic movement took a historic turn in December 1997, when Kim Dae Jung, the country's leading dissident, was elected president. With the advent of democracy, Korean workers organized what has become one of the strongest labor movements in the world. In 1996 Korean unions launched a general strike to successfully defeat a labor law that made it easier for companies to fire workers.
Unions now play a key role in their country's economic restructuring.
North Korea is a Stalinist state where decisionmaking is highly concentrated in the ruling Workers Party and the military, but has entered a period of rapid change. In the early 1990s, North Korea reached a state of crisis following the Soviet demise, which deprived the country of cheap oil supplies and a key market. War was averted when former President Jimmy Carter initiated negotiations with Kim, who died in 1994 and was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Il. In 1995, the North agreed to stop the plutonium project in exchange for improved relations with the U.S. and international assistance in building a nuclear power system using U.S.-designed light water reactors. In March 1998, the United States, South and North Korea, and China began formal talks to end the Korean War.