The Ministry of Employment and Labor said it will devise a plan to grant special judicial police powers to local public officials in a labor supervision cooperation meeting held with labor officials from 17 cities and provinces nationwide.
On the 6th, the Ministry held a meeting presided over by Kim Yoo-jin, head of the Labor Policy Division, and made this announcement. The meeting was organized to explore ways for central and local governments to closely cooperate on recurring issues of industrial accidents and wage arrears in local fields.
At this meeting, the Ministry said, "We will devise a plan as soon as possible so that local governments, which know local conditions better, can carry out field-oriented labor administration," and added that "local governments should also consider specific measures to ensure that there is no confusion in the field, and thorough preparations such as capacity enhancement training for labor supervision officials are necessary."
The idea of delegating or sharing the powers of labor inspectors currently held by the central government with local governments has been emphasized by President Lee Jae-myung since his candidacy in the presidential election. The Presidential Committee on Policy Planning, which is in charge of the Lee Jae-myung government's national agenda, is currently also establishing specific measures.
However, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 81, which our government ratified, stipulates that, "If labor inspection rights are decentralized to local governments, there are concerns about differences in supervisory standards between regions and the possibility of collusion. Therefore, labor inspectors must be affiliated with central agencies." This is expected to lead to controversy.