Tripartite council puts AI at top of agenda as robot fears grow

President Lee Jae Myung and members of the Economic, Social and Labor Council smile during its first plenary session under the administration at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. Joint Press Corps

The presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council has placed artificial intelligence (AI) at the center of its new work agenda, establishing a dedicated AI transition committee as part of a broader effort to revitalize tripartite social dialogue.

The council under President Lee Jae Myung held its first plenary session Thursday at Cheong Wa Dae, unveiling a package of seven committees that collectively target what officials call Korea’s “compound transition crisis” of an AI revolution, demographic change and the green energy transition.

Its committee on “labor-management coexistence in the AI transition” seeks to map how AI spreads through workplaces, how jobs and skills will change, and what cooperation models labor and management can build around that shift.

Council Chair Kim Ji-hyung said AI has become one of the most pressing challenges for the nation’s economy and labor market and therefore needs to be handled as a dedicated social dialogue agenda, amid fears of job replacement as companies such as Hyundai Motor move to introduce humanoid robots like “Atlas.”

Speaking at a press briefing the previous day, Kim said the AI committee plans to focus on concrete, practical workplace impacts rather than abstract technology itself. He identified job insecurity from automation, the emergence of new kinds of jobs, the need for training and reskilling systems, stronger safety nets, clear rules on who is responsible when AI-driven systems cause accidents and ways to share the productivity gains that AI creates as some of the core questions the council must address.

The council has already run a research group on “AI and labor,” which last year set out 12 key questions that are expected to serve as a starting agenda for the new committee.

“AI is a shared concern for both labor and management, and there is strong demand for social dialogue on it,” Kim said. “I expect the committee will be able to address a wide range of issues that may emerge as AI is introduced in workplaces.”

The AI body is one of the council’s five agenda-specific committees. The others will focus on youth employment, industrial safety and accident prevention at small workplaces, reforms to labor-relations institutions and improving labor relations systems for public servants.

In addition, the council approved a special committee on “demographic change and jobs” that will use public deliberation to address employment challenges caused by the country’s falling population and an industry-specific committee to support jobs and local economies in regions hit by the petrochemical sector downturn, which has been worsened by the war in the Middle East.

The council is a presidential tripartite body that traces its roots to the Labor-Management-Government Committee created in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a powerful umbrella group with more than 1 million members, pulled out of the earlier committee in 1999, saying that it had been used to legitimize restructuring and mass layoffs, and has effectively stayed out ever since.

Lee welcomed the launch as a chance to rebuild trust among the relevant parties.

“I hope we won’t rush, but will open a new path through dialogue. It will be difficult, but it is something that must be done. Even so, we have to make the effort, and I hope all of you here will take the lead and set an example in advancing social dialogue,” Lee said.