Son Kyung-sik, Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, "Labor Reform Urgent"

Emphasis on Establishing Rule of Law in Labor Relations
Also Calls for Improvements in Inheritance and Corporate Taxes

"To enable our companies to compete on an equal footing with companies from other countries in the global market, outdated practices and systems in various fields, including the labor market, must be reformed."

On the 29th, Sohn Kyung-shik, Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, emphasized the need for intensive labor reform in his New Year's address for 2024. He stated, "Although economic conditions are expected to improve somewhat in 2024 compared to 2023, uncertainties remain, making it difficult to be optimistic about economic recovery," adding, "To overcome the crisis, revitalizing corporate vitality is the fundamental solution, and for this, practices and systems must be reformed."

He particularly highlighted the need for intensive labor reform. Chairman Sohn said, "Our labor-management relations have shown significant progress in preventing confusion caused by union strikes, thanks to the government's active policy efforts aimed at establishing labor-management rule of law," and added, "I hope that in the new year, labor-management rule of law will be more firmly established, and that labor reforms to modernize unreasonable labor-management practices and systems will be pursued more intensively, freeing us from the stigma of adversarial and confrontational labor relations."

He also mentioned the necessity of regulatory innovation. He argued, "Although the government is striving to innovate 'killer regulations' that hinder corporate investment, it is still insufficient for companies on the ground to feel the impact," and stated, "Barriers blocking the fostering of new industries and advanced technological innovation must be removed, and the regulatory system should be changed to broadly recognize corporate management activities while holding companies accountable afterward."

He particularly demanded improvements in tax systems such as inheritance tax and corporate tax. Chairman Sohn said, "Our corporate and inheritance tax rates are excessively high on a global scale, dampening the 'will to do business' and negatively affecting investment and job creation," and noted, "Although some improvements have been made recently, such as lowering corporate tax rates and expanding investment tax credits, parts that do not reflect the changes in the economic environment and still have higher rates than competing countries must be promptly revised."

Additionally, he added the need for expanding the utilization of foreign labor, enhancing employment service operations, and strengthening efforts to prevent industrial accidents.

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