A luncheon meeting of labor, management and government representatives was held at a Korean restaurant in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on Dec. 14, according to the Ministry of Labor and Employment and Economic, Social and Labor Affairs Committee, a presidential social dialogue body. This marked the first time a labor-management meeting has been held since the start of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik; Economic, Social and Labor Affairs Committee Chairman Kim Moon-soo; the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions Chairman Kim Dong-myung; and Korean Enterprises Federation Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik.
They saw eye to eye on the need to overcome Korea’s economic crisis and population problem and recognized a need for social dialogue on labor issues such as industrial transformation and the continued employment of the elderly.
Furthermore, they agreed to hold a plenary session of the Economic, Social and Labor Affairs Committee as soon as possible and to set up sub-committees for various issues to continue concrete discussions.
“We did not talk much about specifics like the working hours system, but we agreed to solve problems through dialogues and research,” Kim Moon-soo, chairman of the committee, told reporters after the meeting.
“Overall, I asked the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) to play a leading role, and KCTU Chairman Kim Dong-myung said yes,” Kim said. “When the President goes abroad, I told him that it would be good if the KCTU chairman accompany the President like the Korean Enterprises Federation chairman. We were all on the same page.”
A labor-management-government social dialogue resumed in June this year as the KCTU announced its return to the table in November. The KCTU boycotted the dialog, citing a labor movement repression by the current government at the time. However, after the government proposed a presidential veto of the Yellow Envelope Act (an amendment to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Act) on Dec. 1, the KCTU refused to take part in a meeting of deputy representatives of the labor, management and government sectors scheduled to take place later on the day.