Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
New labor council chairman vows broader representation for youth, women, freelancers
Kim Ji-hyung, new chairman of the presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council, speaks during a press conference at the council headquarters in Seoul, Monday. Newsis
By Jung Min-ho
Kim Ji-hyung says his agenda is to bypass bureaucracy to forge direct dialogue with public
The new chairman of the presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council pledged on Monday to overhaul a system he says has failed to sufficiently reflect the voices of youth, women and freelancers in national debates over work and welfare.
“The question is whether the workers who could be most exposed to (today’s) risks are really being heard,” Kim Ji-hyung said at his first press conference at the council’s headquarters in Seoul.
Addressing long-standing criticism that the council has been dominated by traditional labor unions, major employers and government representatives, Kim said the council will “actively look for ways to correct” the underrepresentation of groups such as young people, women, nonregular workers, platform workers and more.
Kim described his agenda as a shift from “social dialogue among institutions” to one “with the people.” Under his leadership, he said, the council would be restructured to allow those most affected by decisions on employment and the future of work to play a more direct role in defining problems and shaping solutions.
Kim pointed to the 2017 “citizens’ jury,” which was convened to consider whether to resume construction of the Shin-Kori 5 and 6 nuclear reactors, as evidence that broader public deliberation is needed on some of the nation’s most consequential questions. In the nuclear reactor case, hundreds of randomly selected citizens were given balanced information, heard from experts and interest groups, and then produced a recommendation that the government accepted as the foundation for its policy.
“For large, weighty issues, that kind of method can be utilized,” he said. “We could establish a dedicated public deliberation committee to consider different deliberative techniques and to hear the people’s views on what the agenda itself should be.”
This comes amid what Kim described as a period of complex and major transitions faced by Korean society, citing the simultaneous impact of the country’s ultra-low birthrate, rapid aging, a tech revolution driven by artificial intelligence and changes in the global trade order.
“The era we are facing is not one where a single actor can solve problems alone,” Kim said. “From now on, social dialogue at this council should do more than simply ‘restart’ talks. It needs to go beyond that and pursue a new paradigm for dialogue itself.”
On one of the key questions facing the council ― whether the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of the country’s two largest labor groups ― will return to the official tripartite framework, he sounded both cautious and hopeful.
“It would of course be most ideal if the group could participate from the outset, but it is also true that the timing of its return is highly uncertain,” Kim said. “We will wait patiently for its participation, but whether it comes back cannot be treated as an absolute precondition for starting new social dialogue.”
KCTU walked out of the council’s predecessor, the Tripartite Commission, in 1999 and has stayed away from official three-way talks in the 26 years since. It has recently begun taking part in a separate social dialogue body under the National Assembly, and last month its leader met Kim for its first formal encounter with a council chairman in more than two decades. But whether KTCU will formally return to the presidential council remains unclear.
Kim also waded into a series of contentious labor debates, ranging from a proposed extension of the retirement age to new restrictions on late-shift work. Looming over the discussion is the imminent “yellow envelope law,” which aims to shield unions from the crippling damage liability lawsuits often used by companies to discourage strikes.
“It’s necessary to first see whether and how the National Assembly proceeds with legislation on extending the retirement age, and we will consider whether to treat the yellow envelope law and night work as subjects for social dialogue,” he said.