Minister of Employment's Speech at ILO General Assembly: "Strengthening Protection and Support for Vulnerable Workers"

Introduction to Government Labor Reform

Lee Jeong-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor, stated, "I cannot agree with problem-solving methods that use the logic of power, violence, threats, and other illegal means instead of dialogue and compromise to improve the dual structure of the labor market."

Minister Lee made these remarks in his keynote speech at the International Labour Organization (ILO) General Assembly held in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 10th (local time).

He emphasized, "To improve the dual structure of the labor market, social dialogue based on tripartite cooperation among labor, management, and government is important," adding, "The Korean government is ensuring the well-being of all workers, including the vulnerable, through labor reforms and is building a labor market based on coexistence and solidarity."

He mentioned plans to strengthen labor supervision and promote the establishment of labor courts, stating, "We plan to discover highly impactful policy tasks to practically resolve various difficulties faced by vulnerable workers in the field and further strengthen the government's protection and support roles."

He also introduced policies such as expanding work-family balance systems, enhancing customized vocational training, and extending employment and industrial accident insurance to special-type workers and platform workers.

Minister Lee further stated, "We are actively promoting social dialogue among labor, management, and government to improve awareness, practices, and systems for work-life balance and to build a sustainable labor market that responds to industrial transformation and demographic changes," emphasizing, "Labor, management, and government must comply with domestic laws, reject illegal acts, and realize the principle of freedom of association through social dialogue."

He concluded his speech by saying, "The direction of the Korean government's labor reform is clear: workplaces where all workers are respected, work healthily, are fairly compensated, and where the values of 'coexistence and solidarity' are protected. We will take the lead in building sustainable jobs for future generations and realizing the value of labor."

Attending the ILO General Assembly in person for the first time in two years, Minister Lee will meet with ILO Secretary-General Gilbert Houngbo on the 11th to explain government policies supporting vulnerable workers.

At this event, an agreement will also be signed to promote Korea-ILO cooperation projects for the next three years (2024?2026). The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that the Korean government will support $9.15 million (12.6 billion KRW) for this cooperation project, surpassing 10 billion KRW for the first time.

Previously, support amounts were 3.3 billion KRW from 2015 to 2017, 4 billion KRW from 2018 to 2020, and 5.9 billion KRW from 2021 to 2023.

Through cooperation with the ILO, the government will contribute to projects such as the 'Global Accelerator' initiative aimed at resolving job and social protection blind spots in middle- and low-income countries.

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