Labor ministry pledges basic-work law as young freelancers describe unpaid jobs

South Korea's labor ministry said Thursday it will push to enact a basic law on working people within the year, after young freelancers told an open-microphone event in Seoul that unpaid fees, contractless work and gaps in social insurance are routine.

The ministry convened the session at the youth lounge of the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office. Unlike earlier outreach aimed mainly at job preparation, the event focused on protecting the rights of young people who work as freelancers, as the spread of artificial intelligence and platforms diversifies how people work.

Only 17.5 percent of surveyed young platform workers and freelancers were enrolled in employment insurance, according to findings presented at the event by Kim Jong-jin, director of the Institute for Working Citizens. Respondents also reported demands for work outside their contracts and delayed or reduced payment. More than seven out of ten said a rights-protection law such as the Basic Act on Working People, together with a dispute-mediation support system, is needed, and 85 percent want the Labor Relations Commission to provide a fast mediation procedure.

"I took on event-related work without a contract, and when the event was canceled midway, I was not paid for the work I had already done," said a 32-year-old video editor. Others raised the risk of gaps in social-insurance records when they move between employment and freelance contracts, vague standards for recognizing career experience, and the lack of counseling centers outside the capital region.

The government plans to take those accounts into consideration as it pursues enactment of the Basic Act on Working People within the year. It also plans to introduce income-based employment insurance, expand the application of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and build a support system covering income stability, welfare and rights protection for workers without an employment contract, tentatively named the K-Labor Welfare Council. The ministry said it will work with related agencies, including the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, to expand social-insurance premium support, maternity protection and financial support for small and microbusiness owners.

"Even freelancers who work relatively freely should not have to bear the difficulties they face on the job alone, and that is especially true for young people taking their first steps into society," Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said. "Through enactment of the Basic Act on Working People within the year, we will ensure that everyone who works can work in a job where basic protections are in place, and on that basis we will push ahead without disruption on tasks such as implementing employment insurance for all citizens, expanding the application of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and strengthening labor welfare support."