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Lee Jae Myung administration aims to cut workplace fatalities from OECD high

Published: 12 Aug. 2025, 17:00

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a press conference marking his first month in office at the Blue House in Jongno District, central Seoul, on July 3. [JOINT RPESS CORPS]

The Lee Jae Myung administration aims to reduce Korea’s workplace fatality rate to the average of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members of 0.29 per 10,000 workers by 2030, down from the current 0.39 — the highest in the group.

The presidential policy planning committee will announce the goal on Wednesday at a public policy briefing as part of its five-year national policy plan. In a senior aides meeting in July, President Lee said, “We must end the disgrace of having the highest workplace fatality rate among OECD nations.”

The committee has designated “creating safe workplaces for all workers” as a key policy task. Planned measures include expanding the right to stop work and introducing a workplace safety and health disclosure system. The work-stoppage right, currently allowed only when “there is imminent danger,” may be broadened to cases where “there is a risk of imminent danger,” while the authority of labor inspectors would be expanded.

The safety and health disclosure system would require workplaces to publish annual data on fatal industrial accidents, preventive measures and safety investments. The Ministry of Employment and Labor is pushing for the system’s introduction through legal amendments.

To shorten the current average processing time of 227.7 days for industrial accident compensation, the government will pursue a “state responsibility system” for compensation. Under the proposal, investigations into workplace injury claims would be completed within a set period, with limited extensions allowed. Benefits could be paid in advance and reclaimed if the case is ultimately not recognized as work-related.

The administration also plans broader labor reforms, including enacting a workplace rights guarantee act, cutting unpaid wages to less than 1 trillion won ($720 million) by 2030 — a more than 50 percent reduction from current levels — reducing annual working hours to the OECD average of 1,717, introducing a four-and-a-half-day workweek, banning lump-sum wage contracts and limiting work-related KakaoTalk messages after hours.

The government plans to allocate about 8 trillion won to achieve these goals, with detailed implementation plans — including a “road map for working hours reduction” — to be finalized within the year.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom staff.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]