President Moon's First Security Meeting in 4th Year of Term... Follow-up Discussions on 'Employment Insurance for All Workers'

Rep. Han Jeong-ae of the Democratic Party's Proposed Amendment to Expand Employment Insurance for Specially Employed Workers Pending for One and a Half Years... Focus on Passage in the 20th National Assembly

President Moon Jae-in is answering questions from reporters after delivering a special national address on the third anniversary of his inauguration at the Chuncheon Hall of the Blue House on the morning of the 10th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] President Moon Jae-in will preside over the first Senior Secretary and Aide Meeting of his fourth year in office at the Blue House on the 11th. Follow-up discussions are expected to take place to concretize the key tasks presented in the special speech on the third anniversary of his inauguration the previous day. In particular, the 'Expansion of Employment Insurance,' for which related bills have already been proposed, is expected to be addressed as a top priority.

According to the Blue House, the Senior Secretary and Aide Meeting scheduled for the afternoon will proceed directly to a closed-door agenda discussion without a separate opening remark from President Moon. Since the special speech was delivered the day before, it was judged that additional external messages were unnecessary.

The task expected to gain momentum first is the expansion of employment insurance. In his speech, President Moon stated, "We will lay the foundation for an 'Era of Nationwide Employment Insurance' where all workers receive employment insurance benefits," adding, "We will promptly promote the enrollment of low-wage, non-regular workers who are still not covered, and quickly eliminate blind spots in employment insurance for special-type workers, platform workers, freelancers, and artists." He also mentioned plans to gradually extend coverage to self-employed individuals through 'social consensus.'

The reason President Moon emphasized 'employment insurance' is that the employment market has been severely contracted due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, and those outside the scope of employment insurance, compared to regular workers, are expected to suffer adverse effects threatening their livelihoods.

According to the 'March Employment Trends' released by Statistics Korea, the number of temporarily laid-off workers reached 1,607,000 last month due to the impact of COVID-19, marking the largest scale since statistics began in March 1983. This is more than four times the 347,000 recorded in the same month last year. Employment indicators for April, which are expected to show an even greater impact, are scheduled to be announced on the 13th.

President Moon emphasized, "We will protect the lives of all citizens from unemployment and livelihood threats," adding, "The current COVID-19 crisis demands that we strengthen our still vulnerable employment safety net." The expansion of employment insurance for special-type workers was also a campaign pledge of President Moon.

Regarding this, Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok explained in an interview with an MBC radio program on the morning of the same day, "There are special-type workers such as cargo truck drivers and private tutors who work under contracts between business owners and individuals, golf course caddies, and platform workers like delivery agents and substitute drivers who operate through digital means," adding, "Next, we will quickly promote employment insurance enrollment for freelancers, artists, and others." However, he added, "Regarding the self-employed, which has been controversial, we will gradually expand coverage through social consensus."

Democratic Party of Korea's Whip Han Jeong-ae is reporting on the review at the Environment and Labor Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 11th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The bill to promote this has already been submitted to the National Assembly. In November 2018, Assemblywoman Han Jeong-ae of the Democratic Party of Korea proposed a partial amendment to the Employment Insurance Act to include special-type workers and artists as subjects of employment insurance, but it has been pending for over a year and a half. At the end of this month, all bills previously submitted will be automatically discarded with the end of the 20th National Assembly's term.

Since it is expected to take at least several months to form the next National Assembly and review bills, attention is focused on whether the ruling and opposition parties can accelerate the processing of the bill within this month.

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