Yoon: "Employment Succession Deprives Future Generations of Opportunities... Must Eradicate It"

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 that morning, according to a written briefing by Lee Do-woon, spokesperson for the Presidential Office.

The president's statement is interpreted as referring to the Ministry of Employment and Labor's first judicial action against those involved in employment inheritance.

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According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Anyang branch of the Central Regional Employment and Labor Office filed charges on the 7th against the Korea Metal Workers' Union under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), Kia Corporation, and its CEO for maintaining a clause on "employment inheritance" that prioritized hiring children of union members.

The problematic clause is Article 26, Paragraph 1 of the Kia Motors labor-management collective agreement, which states that "one direct family member of a union member who died from illness while in service, children of retirees, and children of employees with over 25 years of long-term service shall be given priority in hiring."

Earlier, in August of last year, the Ministry of Employment and Labor issued corrective measures to 63 companies that had clauses in their collective agreements regarding hiring retirees, long-term employees, employees with non-work-related illnesses, and direct family members of employees.

Kia was included in this group and received administrative guidance, but signed the collective agreement last year without amending the relevant clause. Consequently, the Ministry issued a correction order in November of the same year.

Excluding three workplaces where correction was impossible, 54 workplaces have completed corrections, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to take further action regarding the remaining workplaces.

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