Labor ministry convenes forum on ILO platform-work protections

The labor ministry on Tuesday convened a Seoul forum on the implications for South Korea of the International Labour Organization's convention on decent work in the platform economy, seeking protections for workers as artificial intelligence (AI) and the platform economy expand.

The 4 p.m. meeting at the Bankers Hall International Conference Room in central Seoul focused on the significance of the convention's adoption and policy directions for protecting all working people in a rapidly changing labor environment.

The program opened with presentations by Namgung Jun, a researcher, on the convention's main provisions and significance, and Park Gui-cheon, a professor at Ewha Womans University, on implementation tasks. Namgung said the convention established an independent international labor standard for protecting platform workers and gave countries flexibility to take account of their circumstances.

In a discussion chaired by Jeong Heung-jun, experts focused on legal and institutional measures to apply the convention's aims to domestic conditions. They agreed that platform workers outside the social safety net need protection.

Park said, "Existing laws alone have limits in covering diverse and new forms of work." She called for the Basic Act on the Rights of Working People to establish a basic framework for protecting rights, wider social insurance coverage and continuing changes to individual laws and institutions.

"Workers should not be excluded from fundamental rights simply because their form of work differs. We will faithfully reflect the diverse opinions discussed today in policy and build a society in which all workers are respected," Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said.