The Daegu nodonghoe (Daegu Labor Association) began as a fraternal gathering of transport workers at the Daegu Train Station in 1923. It was influenced by the members of the Daegu nodong gongjehoe (Daegu Worker’s Beneficial Association). The marked increase in the number of members attending this fraternal gathering of transport workers led to the emergence of the Daegu nodong chinmokhoe (Daegu Workers Fraternity Association), which in turn spawned the Daegu nodonghoe (Daegu Labor Association). During this process, the Daegu nodonghoe was dominated by its leadership and did not truly focus on its members. The leadership group was able to further consolidate its position by resolving the problems which its members faced, such as wage conflicts with their company owners or labor strikes, through negotiations with management.
The leadership of the Daegu nodonghoe maintained close ties with Japanese controlled entities such as the Daegu Chamber of Commerce, which revolved around Japanese businesspeople, the Daegu mayor’s office, and the Daegu police. As a result of the expansion of such relationships, the Daegu nodonghoe organized activities to disrupt the Wonsan Strike of 1929. For their efforts, the group faced the humiliation of being asked to leave by their compatriots. As such, the Daegu nodonghoe strayed from its improvement orientation and became an association that essentially towed the government line. Furthermore, the Daegu nodonghoe also severed relations with the Daegu nodong gongjehoe, which constituted one of the leading labor movement organizations at the time. Thus, it increasingly became an organization that revolved around its leadership and engaged in activities independently of other social organizations in the Daegu area such as the Daegu Branch Office of the Singanhoe (The New Trunk Society). The Daegu nodonghoe essentially became an isolated organization that did not have any cooperative or hierarchal ties with other organizations.
The Daegu nodonghoe was one of the representative labor organizations in the Daegu area during the late 1920s. However, rather than being a laborer-centered association, it evolved into a leadership oriented government apparatus that openly negotiated with Japanese imperialism. As a result, the Daegu nodonghoe’s activities tended to be low key, and the group found itself estranged from not only local social movements such as the Daegu Branch Office of the Singanhoe, but also the national labor movement. Labor movements in the Daegu area gradually collapsed as revolutionary labor unions emerged during the 1930s.