Minister of Employment An Kyung-duk: "1 Trillion Won Support for the Settlement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act"

27th Expanded Policy Review Meeting Held
Emphasis on Next Year's Industrial Accident Prevention Budget Execution

Regarding Criticism of Employment Recovery Fiscal Support as a 'Temporary Effect'
"160,000 Decrease in Direct Job Support Targets This Year" Rebuttal

Minister of Employment and Labor Ahn Kyung-duk speaking at the expanded policy review meeting held at the Government Sejong Complex in Sejong City on the morning of the 27th. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] An Kyung-duk, Minister of Employment and Labor, announced that a financial support budget of about 1 trillion won for industrial accident prevention next year will be provided to ensure the successful implementation of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (Serious Accidents Act), which will take effect from January 27 next year. He also refuted claims that this year's employment improvement trend was due to government financial input.

On the 27th, Minister An presided over the 'Expanded Policy Inspection Meeting' at the Government Complex Sejong and said, "More than 1 trillion won in financial support will be linked to help companies with 50 or more employees, to which the Serious Accidents Act applies next year, manage workplace risk factors on their own." The Ministry of Employment and Labor's budget for industrial accident prevention next year is 1.1 trillion won, an 11.8% increase from this year, marking the highest ever. It has more than doubled in two years. The ministry plans to use the budget for industrial accident prevention facility loans (356.3 billion won), replacement of hazardous machinery (327.1 billion won), and safety facility improvements (119.7 billion won). Minister An emphasized, "Thanks to the efforts of the government and workplaces, the number of industrial accident deaths this year is expected to record the lowest ever in the 800s, around 820. Companies must now consider and implement safety measures to reduce even a single fatal accident."

He reported that the employment situation this year has "recovered 99.98% of the pre-COVID-19 level." He cited the employment rate last month reaching a record high of 67.5% as evidence. Some argue that the employment recovery is a 'temporary effect' resulting from the government's expansion of financial jobs, and that the increase in 'quality jobs' centered on private companies has not occurred. In response, Minister An rebutted, "There are claims that the employment improvement is due to financial input, but the number of jobs directly created by the government decreased by 160,000 this year compared to last year." According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the scale of public jobs decreased from 1,389,000 last year to 1,228,000 this year. The ministry also stated that only about 3.3 trillion won, or 10% of next year's job project budget, will be invested in direct job budgets such as senior jobs.

Regarding next year's job policy, Minister An emphasized, "We will respond with full force to achieve complete employment recovery." The Ministry of Employment and Labor's job budget is 24.5 trillion won. The ministry plans to strengthen support for youth jobs on a scale of 630,000 people by investing 4.4 trillion won. It will continue employment retention support, focusing on sectors severely affected by COVID-19 such as aviation and travel, by investing 600 billion won in employment retention subsidies. From January 1 next year, the employment insurance system will be expanded to cover some special employment workers (including quick service workers such as delivery and courier workers, and substitute drivers) who are currently not covered by employment insurance.

Minister An said, "In a difficult private job market situation, actively managing finances is the government's responsibility," and added, "The government will strive to foster new industries and nurture future talents so that more quality jobs centered on the private sector are created."

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