President Yoon: "Prevent Union Corruption... Review Establishing an Accounting Disclosure System"

To Strengthen Industrial Competitiveness, 'Union Transparency' Essential... "Urgent Need to Break Dual Labor Market Structure"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] On the 26th, President Yoon Seok-yeol instructed the establishment of an accounting system for labor unions. This decision was based on the judgment that preventing union corruption and enhancing transparency are essential for strengthening industrial competitiveness. President Yoon also pointed to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system, 'DART', as a comparison target.

At the senior secretaries' meeting held at the Yongsan Presidential Office that morning, President Yoon said, "Please remember that preventing union corruption and enhancing transparency are essential for strengthening our industry's competitiveness and improving workers' welfare, and approach the plan accordingly," and instructed, "Consider establishing a labor union accounting disclosure system."

After being briefed on the low unionization rate in small workplaces, President Yoon also mentioned, "Domestic unions are not properly representing labor's vulnerable groups." According to the nationwide labor union organization status released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor last year, the unionization rate among workers is 14.2%. President Yoon emphasized, "It is urgent to break the dual structure of the labor market and the exploitation structure between unions," and added, "The government must focus policy efforts on protecting vulnerable workers."

The Presidential Office explained President Yoon's directive by saying, "He views anti-corruption and accounting transparency as important for enhancing competitiveness." It further added, "To make disclosure more transparent and concrete, legal amendments may be necessary. If so, the relevant discussions are expected to take place within the competent ministries."

Meanwhile, Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik announced in a briefing that afternoon plans to promote legal amendments to increase the financial transparency of labor unions. Minister Lee said, "Public distrust regarding whether labor unions' finances are managed and disclosed transparently is growing, and there is even talk of 'dark accounting'," and added, "We will consider disclosing the results of accounting audits for unions above a certain size."

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