Minister Kim Young-hoon of the Ministry of Employment and Labor held his first press conference on the 1st after taking office. On this day, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that it will change its official abbreviation from 'Ministry of Employment' to 'Ministry of Labor'. Minister Kim is a laborer who worked for 34 years as a train engineer at KORAIL (formerly the Korea National Railroad Administration).
At the press conference, Minister Kim announced measures to shorten the processing period for work-related disease industrial accidents. Currently, it takes an average of 228 days and up to 4 years to determine whether a work-related disease falls under industrial accidents, and the goal is to reduce this period by half.
Minister Kim further noted regarding 'reducing deaths from industrial accidents' that he would 'stake his position'. He said, "I aim to lower the fatal accident rate from work-related injuries in Korea from 0.39 (last year) to 0.29, the OECD average by 2027," and presented a具体的目标.
Additionally, Minister Kim stated regarding the recent KORAIL train accident in Cheongdo, Gyeongsangbuk-do that, "I will raise the industry safety scoring in public sector management evaluations from the current 0.5 points to over 2.5 points." This could lead to industrial accidents affecting the dismissal of public enterprise presidents and performance bonuses for executives.
Furthermore, Minister Kim announced a series of measures including ▲ Measures to eradicate wage arrears (September 2) ▲ Comprehensive measures for workplace safety to reduce industrial accidents (early September) ▲ Comprehensive measures for returning 'rested' youths to the workplace (mid-September).
Next is a question-and-answer session with Minister Kim.
―Do you have plans to change the name 'Ministry of Employment and Labor' itself?
"I have consulted with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and have changed the abbreviation to 'Ministry of Labor' as of today. The change to 'Ministry of Labor' reflects our intention to broadly protect unemployed working citizens and workers without employers. I am not currently considering changing the full name. I am well aware of the criticism that goes, 'Isn't the minister one who knows labor but not employment?'"
―You have been emphasizing industrial safety continuously. How do you plan to strengthen the labor inspection methods?
"Starting October 1, in the general labor inspection process, if any violation of safety obligations is detected, legal action will be taken immediately without direction for rectification, even if it does not lead to an accident. Previously, legal action was only taken without rectification during special inspections."
―I understand there are concerns about the term 'labor inspector'.
"We plan to soon hold a public naming contest for labor inspectors. I want to ask the collective intellect what title suits the role of 'protecting working citizens' rather than giving the impression of 'overseeing work'."
―When will the 'comprehensive measures for workplace safety' be released?
"I will announce it before mid-September. There are criticisms that I am only emphasizing punishment, but it is structured around ensuring effective measures for workplaces and labor relations to prevent accidents. I will also include special measures to prevent serious accidents, particularly those occurring in establishments centered around older workers, migrant workers, and neighborhood businesses, as well as industrial accidents involving delivery workers."
Regarding the suspension of operations for construction companies, previously, the Ministry of Employment and Labor could only recommend to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport if more than two people died at once. Now, we are considering allowing suspension of operations if a certain number of deaths occur within one year of a serious accident, though the specific number of fatalities has not yet been determined.
―The Legislative Research Service recently released a report stating that the effectiveness of the Serious Accident Punishment Act has been minimal over the past three years.
"I fully empathize with such points. Based on the report, I will consider ways to enhance the effectiveness of the Serious Accident Punishment Act. However, I cannot agree with the notion that it should be abolished simply because it has not been effective."
―There are various policy measures to reduce deaths from industrial accidents, but the authority is dispersed across several ministries.
"Because of such issues, we plan to initiate a provisional 'Ministerial Meeting on Labor Relations' centered around the Ministry of Labor soon. Specific details have not been finalized, but we are reviewing them at the practical level."
―You said you would 'stake your position' on reducing deaths from industrial accidents. Please present a specific target.
"There are criticisms that my statement of 'staking my position' is just rhetoric, but that is absolutely not the case. It wasn't said spontaneously either. As of last year, the industrial accident fatality rate in Korea was 0.39. The Presidential Committee on Policy Planning stated that it would lower this to 0.29, the OECD average by 2027. We will strive to achieve this goal."
―There was a recent industrial accident fatality at KORAIL. The public is calling for not only private companies that have announced various economic sanctions to do so but also for public institutions to establish industrial accident prevention measures equitably.
"The president of KORAIL expressed his intention to resign two days after the accident, and his resignation was accepted immediately. If that is what you call a sanction, then so be it. I also believe that we need to restore the weighting of the industrial safety field in public sector evaluations and think it should be further increased. Under the previous government, that weighting dropped from 2.5 points to 0.5 points. The assessment should evaluate safety as much as business viability and cost-saving metrics."
―Do you have plans to address the youth employment issue?
"There are 400,000 youths who are 'rested'. I do not believe they are simply resting. The key to youth employment policy is whether we can find and approach these 'temporarily paused' young people and guide them to decent jobs. I will announce a 'comprehensive workplace measures' to provide opportunities for those who have been paused for a long time in mid-September."