Kim Young-hoon, the nominee for the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, "I will prove that working together with labor is true growth," and "I will do my best to demonstrate that pro-labor policies can become pro-business, and that cooperative and participatory labor-management relations can be the new growth engine of the country.
The nominee, Kim, made this statement during a confirmation hearing held at the Environment and Labor Committee of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 16th.
He revealed his background of living as a railway worker for 33 years and said, "I understand that a society where the value of sweat is respected over the value of land is the labor philosophy of the Lee Jae-myung administration," adding, "I will create a labor-respecting society."
The nominee also remarked, "I will strive to guarantee the people's right to work," and "I will ensure that the government serves as a guiding light for youth employment. I will implement various policies to allow aspiring young workers to enter their first jobs with excitement." He continued, "I will respond proactively when signs of employment crises arise in regions to prevent regional job disparities from worsening."
The nominee stated, "I will concentrate all administrative power on eradicating industrial accidents so that workers can return to their families and society just as they appear when leaving for work." He also said, "For repeated accidents such as falls, entrapments, and collapses, which are characteristic of underdeveloped countries, as well as accidents caused by discrimination, I will impose strict penalties based on the principle of zero tolerance." He added, "I will establish a unified safety and health management system for primary and secondary contractors to prevent serious accidents among subcontracted workers."
He continued, "I will legislate for equal pay for equal work to ensure that those doing similar work are not discriminated against," and "I will consider support equivalent to large corporations for small and medium-sized enterprises that comply well with labor laws through a program tentatively named 'Happy Workplace Certification.'"
The nominee evaluated the so-called 'yellow envelope law,' which amends Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act, stating, "I understand that corporations have significant concerns about this," but added, "The yellow envelope law is a dialogue facilitation law that makes dialogue itself illegal and breaks the vicious cycle of astronomical liability and extreme conflict. I believe it is also a gap reduction law. I expect that the path to a grand compromise among labor, management, and the government will also widen."