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Vice Minister of Employment and Labor Im Seo-jeong announces the Cabinet’s approval of a motion to ratify the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s core conventions during a briefing at the Government Complex in Sejong on July 6. (Yonhap News)

The South Korean government is once again pushing to ratify three key conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) that would enable unemployed and terminated workers to take part in labor unions. Ratifying the conventions would also give Korean conscripts who are assigned to supplementary service the option of doing active service instead.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) announced that the South Korean Cabinet had approved a motion on July 7 to ratify three of the ILO’s key conventions: Conventions 87 and 98, which concern the freedom of association, and Convention 29, which bans compulsory labor. After receiving the president’s approval, the ratification motion will be submitted to the National Assembly this month. The government submitted the same motion to the National Assembly in October 2019, but it faced stiff opposition from the main opposition party and was automatically scrapped at the conclusion of the 20th National Assembly.

Convention 87 would provide for labor and management’s free and voluntary establishment of organizations and membership and activity therein, while Convention 98 would guarantee the freedom of negotiations between labor and management and ban individuals from being punished for union activity. The two conventions about the freedom of association would allow unemployed and terminated individuals to join enterprise unions; allow retired government workers, teaching staff, firefighters, and university workers to join unions; and lead to the legalization of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU).

Convention 29 would have an impact on the community service assigned to some Korean men of military age. The ratification of this convention would allow Korean conscripts assigned to supplementary service, which could be regarded as compulsory labor, to choose active duty instead. Leading up to the cabinet’s approval of the ratification motion, the government presented the National Assembly with revisions to laws about military service and labor unions (including unions for government workers and teaching staff) that would give the conventions legal backing.

The ratification of these key conventions could affect an expert panel that’s currently reviewing a trade dispute over the EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement. “Ratification of these key conventions is essential in order to protect the national interest and to resolve latent trade risks. We hope to have the conventions ratified within the year if possible,” said Vice Minister of Employment and Labor Im Seo-jeong during a preliminary briefing on the day before.

By Kim Yang-jin, staff reporter

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