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Gov't to form panel with labor, sparking concerns of union overinfluence

Published: 09 Feb. 2026, 19:18

Officials from the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) are seen during the launch of an joint operating consultative body on Feb. 9. [MINISTRY OF EMPLOYMENT AND LABOR]

The Ministry of Employment and Labor decided to officially operate a consultative body to regularly discuss related policy with labor and management groups, starting with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), in an unprecedented move.

The Labor Ministry said on Monday that it officially launched a consultative body with FKTU officials and deputy representative-level ministerial staff. The ministry plans to launch similar regular working-level consultative bodies with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) on Wednesday and with the Korea Enterprises Federation on Feb. 24.

The labor-government consultative body will operate through a working-level meeting held monthly with the director general for labor policy at the Labor Ministry and the secretary general of the FKTU, as well as a high-level meeting held quarterly with the vice minister of the ministry and the president of the federation.

Strong demands from the labor sector compelled the government to form the consultative body to facilitate direct communication with labor and management.

The KCTU in particular has long called for “labor-government negotiations,” a format in which the government and labor unions discuss policy and institutional issues while excluding management, and the move is seen as the government’s response to those demands.

In September of last year, Yang Kyung-soo, chair of the KCTU, met President Lee Jae Myung and proposed that “comprehensive labor-government negotiations are necessary to resolve inequality and labor issues.”

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon, center, speaks during a policy meeting at the Dong District Office in Ulsan on Feb. 9. [YONHAP]

Yang later conveyed the same demand during a meeting with Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who responded that “there is a need for the KCTU to build a system of dialogue and cooperation that matches the level of the new government and a new era.”

Although the government plans to meet both labor and management by forming consultative bodies with the employer side as well, this has raised concerns that labor unions’ influence could grow in practice.

“Calling for a separate labor-government dialogue largely means an intention to directly convey policy demands to the government,” said Park Ji-soon, a professor at Korea University’s Graduate School of Labor Studies.

There are also concerns that the Economic, Social and Labor Council under the president could lose momentum even before it is relaunched.

“The labor-government consultative body is intended only to strengthen communication and is not an organization meant to reach agreements or draw conclusions,” said a Labor Ministry official. “The Economic, Social and Labor Council, a social dialogue body, will also be reorganized and launched soon.”

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions chief Yang Kyung-soo is seen draping a bandana with printed slogans onto a bust of Jeon Tae-il, a workers' rights activist, during a New Year's kickoff ceremony of the union in Namyangju, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 5. [YONHAP]

The government says the panels are meant to ease the “distrust between labor and the government” cited by the labor sector as the reason it struggles to return to dialogue.

However, experts warn that a consultative body without both labor and management is likely to function less as a channel for communication and more as a conduit for each side’s demands.

“Labor issues are fundamentally matters that labor, management and the government must resolve together,” Prof. Park said. “Behind-the-scenes meetings between the government and labor or management can be seen as one form of communication, but creating a formal consultative body without the parties themselves runs counter to principle and is not desirable.”

“The trust labor unions talk about often ultimately means asking the government to grant what the labor sector wants, and the consultative body is likely to be nothing more than a channel for each side to demand what it wants,” Park warned.

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.
BY KIM YEON-JOO [[email protected]]