Minister Kim Hyun-mi Visits Construction Site: "Life is the Top Priority... Will Ensure Thorough Safety Measures"

Institutionalization Plan for Appropriate Wage System Finalized in June
Construction Safety Innovation Measures to Be Announced Next Month
Acceleration of Reduction in Construction Site Safety Accidents

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi is attending the New Year's Meeting of Construction Workers held at Lotte Hotel, Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul on the 3rd. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] On the 10th, Kim Hyunmi, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, visited the Seohae Line double-track railway construction site in Asan, Chungnam, to inspect the construction safety situation and emphasized that the institutionalization of the appropriate wage system for worker protection and construction safety innovation measures will be carried out without delay.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the day, the government plans to make this year the first year of safe and secure construction sites, and will make every effort to drastically improve construction jobs and further accelerate the decline in construction accidents.

First, to fundamentally prevent wage arrears, detailed operational standards for the public client direct wage payment system, which was fully introduced last year, will be legislated in the first half of this year, and the system will be improved to ensure wages are guaranteed even in cases of construction companies' bankruptcy or insolvency.

Regarding the electronic card system to be introduced from November to reflect construction workers' work history without omission in wages and retirement benefits, it will be applied first to all affiliated and subordinate organizations of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport before the system is implemented. Through this, the recognition method of electronic cards such as mobile will be improved.

To create an environment where workers can be properly treated according to their experience and qualifications, preparations for the skilled worker grading system to be implemented from May next year will be carried out without delay. The appropriate wage system, which ensures that wages above the amount set by the client can be paid during the multi-level subcontracting process, will also have its institutionalization plan finalized and announced by June this year.

In addition, to accelerate the reduction of safety accidents, the 'Construction Safety Innovation Plan' will be announced next month. The plan is to assign more responsibility to authorized entities such as clients and construction companies and to innovate the practice of prioritizing cost over safety.

Minister Kim said at a meeting with workers on the day, "In 2020, the government plans to promote various policies that can realize the highest value of people's lives," and added, "We will frequently listen to the voices from the field during the policy implementation process and make every effort to ensure that the policy outcomes appear early."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.