"Must Eradicate Employment Succession"... Yoon Raises Labor Issues for 2 Consecutive Weeks (Comprehensive)

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President Yoon Suk-yeol emphasized on the 17th that "employment inheritance, which deprives future generations of opportunities, must be eradicated."

President Yoon made this remark during a senior secretaries meeting presided over by the president, according to a briefing by Lee Do-woon, spokesperson for the Presidential Office.

The president's statement is interpreted as a response to the Ministry of Employment and Labor's first judicial action against those involved in employment inheritance. According to the Ministry of Employment, the Anyang branch of the Central Regional Employment and Labor Office filed charges on the 7th against the Korea Metal Workers' Union, affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and the chairman of Kia Corporation and its CEO for maintaining provisions that prioritized hiring the children of union members, known as "employment inheritance."

President Yoon has raised labor issues for two consecutive weeks during senior secretaries meetings. At the meeting on the 10th, he instructed, "Since establishing the rule of law between labor and management is the most important area of labor reform, thoroughly pursue legal measures against refusal to submit accounting documents."

Some speculate that the remarks were made with the sharp decline in approval ratings ahead of his state visit to the United States in mind, but the Presidential Office explained that it was a reiteration of President Yoon's principles and beliefs. A Presidential Office official who met with reporters that day said, "If we talk about the most fundamental values of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, they are freedom and solidarity. When President Yoon started his political career, he promised to break the entrenched vested interest cartels in this society so that future generations can have hope," adding, "Eradicating employment inheritance centered on labor unions is something that must be achieved in the context of establishing the rule of law between labor and management, which is the government's and the president's intention."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The official emphasized, "The most important thing to break the vested interest cartels is the fight against inherited vested rights. Employment inheritance not only deprives future generations of opportunities but also undermines the values of 'freedom and solidarity,' which are the spirit of our constitution, so it must be eradicated."

For this reason, the government insists that the 'Fair Recruitment Act,' which is being promoted to eliminate employment inheritance, should be legislated promptly. The official said, "However, since the current National Assembly is in a situation where the ruling party has fewer seats than the opposition, there is regret and frustration that the legislation the government intends is not being enacted in a timely manner."

Nevertheless, the official added, "Even if it is not that law, there are aspects that can be regulated through the current Labor Union Act and the Framework Act on Employment Policy. Since equality rights stipulated by the constitution and anti-social order legal acts stipulated in Article 103 of the Civil Act can also be coordinated, the government will carefully review how to correct this issue."

Another senior official from the Presidential Office explained, "The government is preparing the Fair Recruitment Act within this year and is reviewing strengthening criminal penalties when employment inheritance is detected."

He continued, "The Yoon Suk-yeol administration views collective agreements involving employment inheritance as no different from hiring corruption. They are invalid due to violation of mandatory provisions," emphasizing, "Therefore, it is believed that raising the level of punishment decisively for representative cases of unfair hiring is necessary to fundamentally block the inheritance of vested interests."

Meanwhile, the Presidential Office expressed its intention to listen more to public opinion following the end of the legislative notice period for the Ministry of Employment and Labor's working hours system reform proposal on the same day. The official explained, "Based on the public opinion collected so far, we will conduct scientific public opinion surveys and, on the other hand, hold focus group interviews with direct stakeholders to carefully consider the direction of the bill before taking follow-up measures."

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