50th Anniversary of Korea Employers Federation... Son Kyung-sik "Fulfilling the Role of a Comprehensive Economic Organization in the Era"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Korea Employers Federation (KEF) held a commemorative ceremony on the 15th to mark its 50th anniversary and announced new missions, visions, and slogans.

On this day, KEF held the 50th anniversary event under the theme "50 Years Made Together" at the Shilla Hotel in Jangchung-dong, Seoul. About 300 key figures from various sectors attended, including Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, Kim Tae-nyeon, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Lee Jae-gap, Minister of Employment and Labor, Kim Dong-myung, Chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Moon Sung-hyun, Chairman of the Economic, Social and Labor Council, Harry Harris, U.S. Ambassador, and Xing Haiming, Chinese Ambassador.

Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik reflected on KEF's history in his commemorative speech. He evaluated the past 50 years of KEF as "a period since its founding in 1970 with the mission of contributing to the formation of industrial peace and coexistence in labor-management relations, during which it has strived to develop Korea's labor-related laws, systems, and practices."

He continued, "KEF, representing the business community, has worked to establish a culture of labor-management cooperation in various ways despite conflicts and confrontations over the past 50 years. Even during times when the foundation of the economy was shaken by over 3,700 labor disputes coinciding with the democratization fervor of the June 29 Declaration in 1987, labor disputes have stabilized to about 100 cases annually over the past decade."

He also emphasized, "In particular, KEF contributed to overcoming crises through tripartite agreements during the severe difficulties of the IMF foreign exchange crisis and the financial crisis. It continues cooperative activities by actively participating in tripartite representative meetings amid the current economic and employment crisis caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)."

Regarding future economic policies, Chairman Sohn pointed out, "Our industries and companies must enhance their competitiveness on a global scale to outpace developing countries and surpass advanced competitors, which will also help maintain and expand good jobs domestically."

He added, "KEF is strengthening policy activities in areas such as business operations, government regulations, governance, and taxation to help our industries and companies enhance global competitiveness. We will fulfill KEF's new role as a comprehensive economic organization that reforms the framework of our economy in line with the rapid advancement of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the paradigm shift in the post-COVID era."

Son Kyung-sik, Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

President Moon Jae-in expressed gratitude to KEF, which has played a significant role in job creation and the development of labor-management relations as one pillar of social dialogue over the past half-century, through a congratulatory message.

President Moon stated, "I applaud KEF's efforts as it declares its leap to a comprehensive economic organization and renews itself to meet the times. I support the 'Future of Coexistence' that KEF will open together with the people," and added, "I hope KEF will continue to be a pioneer for a 'Shared Economy, Shared Future.'"

He also expressed appreciation for KEF's agreement on the "Tripartite Declaration for Overcoming COVID-19," noting, "Although the tripartite social dialogue did not reach a final agreement, reaching a provisional agreement itself was an opportunity to raise the level of our social dialogue to a new stage."

Meanwhile, KEF announced new missions, visions, and slogans that will provide core values and identity for its future activities as a comprehensive economic organization. Based on these, KEF plans to focus on proposing a new paradigm for the advancement of labor-management relations and the development of the national economy.

To this end, KEF announced that it will publish the "2020 Business Management Barriers Report" in December, analyzing 'management barriers' in the economic and corporate management sectors. Through in-depth interviews with over 180 companies regarding regulations in four major areas?labor, management and taxation, environment and safety, and new industries?it plans to deeply understand on-site difficulties and propose policy alternatives.

Additionally, KEF will present comprehensive "Legal and Institutional Advancement Tasks" in October, considering the paradigm shifts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the post-COVID era, and will make recommendations to the government and the National Assembly. It will also strive to build consensus with the labor sector.

KEF also announced various policy activities, including ▲discovering 'labor-management cooperation programs' to build mutually beneficial labor-management relations (September), ▲proposing 'structural improvement plans for social security systems' to enhance sustainability (November), and ▲disseminating 'workplace safety management manuals' to establish a fully autonomous, prevention-centered safety management system (December).

Furthermore, KEF will work to expand a solid budget and project base to support future policy activities. It plans to continuously expand research service activities to enhance policy capabilities, aiming to increase the research service budget from 1.4 billion KRW in 2020 to 2.5 billion KRW by 2025.

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