"Looking at the disclosure of accident investigation reports, the actual rate is just 3%. This is a serious problem."
"We will make an effort."
"Not an effort — report back with a concrete plan."
That exchange between Rep. Lee Yong-woo of the Democratic Party of Korea and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon came during a parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Employment and Labor by the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee on the 13th. Throughout the session, ruling party lawmakers took turns criticizing the government's labor policies, as if the roles of ruling and opposition parties had been reversed. With the administration professing respect for labor, the ruling party's offensive was all the sharper.
The "serious problem" Lee singled out was the ministry's record on releasing industrial accident investigation reports. Of the 5,551 reports written between 2019 and Aug. 18 of this year, only 168 — about 3% — have been made public. Under the revised Occupational Safety and Health Act that took effect in June, reports can be released promptly even after prosecutors file charges. But Lee said the ministry still insists on waiting for final court rulings and has remained passive about disclosure.
Ruling party lawmakers also pressed the ministry hard over labor exemptions planned for so-called mega special zones. The measure would exempt or ease working-hour rules, including the 52-hour workweek cap, for research and development staff in designated regions as a way to strengthen competitiveness in advanced industries. Business groups have pushed for the deregulation to allow uninterrupted research, while labor groups strongly oppose it as legalizing long working hours and rolling back labor rights.
With the proposal under discussion at the tripartite social dialogue table of labor, management and government, Lee said it was "something no past government has attempted" and that "it should not be pursued under the Lee Jae-myung administration." Kim stressed that it was "a matter under social dialogue and one requiring careful review."
Rep. Park Jung of the same party pointed to shortcomings in youth employment policy. When Park called for the ministry to set a "good jobs standard" in line with International Labour Organization criteria, Kim replied that the government would "create many jobs that meet the expectations of young adults." Park pushed back, saying the point was "not simply to increase the number of jobs but to establish a standard that defines quality jobs."
The opposition pressed its own attacks. Rep. Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party took aim at what she called inadequate follow-up measures for the revised Trade Union Act, known as the yellow envelope law. The revision recognizes prime contractors as employers when they substantially control and determine the working conditions of subcontracted workers. Because the law leaves the precise scope of substantial control and the bargaining procedures unclear, the clarity of the presidential decree and administrative interpretation guidelines has been seen as the key issue in preventing confusion at workplaces.
Na recalled Kim's earlier statement that he would enact a presidential decree, then questioned how the ambiguous interpretation guidelines were being supplemented. "The problem is that the government's standards are vague," Na said. "The guidelines are an issue, but when the law is enforced without clear standards, it is only deepening industrial action and conflict at workplaces."