to open up its markets in such a way that would benefit the foreign investors. In an effort to secure the jobs of the workers, KCTU implemented a nationwide signature campaign for the guarantee of jobs for workers and sought to punish the people responsible for the devastating economic crisis. Moreover, they organized approximately 30,000 people at a rally and demanded political reforms and sought protection from the impending arbitrary layoffs, hence the General Strike of 1997. The General Strike was supported by the blue collar and white collar workers, including the financial sector and clerical workers. The strike was also supported by the general population, and despite the state control of the media, the Internet acted as a conduit in providing real time information to the outside world, for the first time. But despite the efforts of the KCTU in organizing the General Strike, the results were very disappointing. Whether it was imposed by the IMF or by the government, the bailout requirements gave significant discretion to the chaebol with respect to laying off the workers. Moreover, those upper and mid-level workers who had failed to unionise in fear of losing their jobs, were caught completely off guard. The economic crisis also compelled the government to enact laws without seeking the input from the unions, exacerbating the ongoing conflicts. As a result of the mandated restructure by the IMF, labor disputes inevitably escalated from 78 in 1997, to 129 in 1998. Criticism of KCTU Within three years of its existence, KCTU managed significant achievements, including, legally recognized by the government and gained substantial national prominence. With more than a half a million members and its ability to mobilize tens of thousands of workers at any given time, KCTU was now a legitimate force that could not be ignored. Nevertheless, voices of discontent within the union were growing. On January 14, 1998, the Labor Management Government Tripartite Council was formed, as mandated by the IMF. It was a concerted effort on all three parties to equally "share" the pain and suffering associated with the economic crisis. As a part of the "share" of the union, KCTU leadership conceded the redundancy layoffs in the case of emergency affecting the companies, something that the union members had consistently rejected. And consequently, the union members of the KCTU voted out the leadership who they deemed were responsible for the grave mistake and elected