Labor ministry sets criteria for Korea's just transition special zones

South Korea's labor ministry said Friday it will take public comments until Nov. 2 on a draft notice setting the criteria for designating "just transition special zones," areas facing heavy job and industrial disruption as the country moves toward carbon neutrality.

The designation is meant to let the government support regions preemptively, where employment, industrial structure or the local economy is changing sharply, or is expected to, under the carbon-neutral transition.

Under the draft, a provincial governor must gather views from stakeholders, including the workers and management of supplier companies, and draw up a local plan for restoring industry, employment and the economy.

Governors would then apply for designation at the city, county or district level to both the labor ministry and the industry ministry, and may group two or more districts into a single application. A local plan must be published for at least 20 days before the application is filed with it.

To qualify, a region must fall within the transition to a carbon-neutral society, a mandatory condition, and must also meet at least one of three optional criteria: a large actual or expected change in the employment environment, worsening business conditions for local companies, or a need for designation to ease social and economic inequality.

Designation would run for two years. An extension of up to two years may be granted once after review, with a further one-year extension possible where special support is judged necessary.

The ministry said it will work with the industry ministry to draw up support measures on preventing layoffs, promoting re-employment, stabilizing company operations and speeding the shift of regional industries. The Korea Employment Information Service and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology will run a central support center to help local governments with the application and planning process, and regional support centers set up by local governments will help carry out the plans after designation.

"Carbon neutrality is an unavoidable global trend, but the burden it creates must not be concentrated in particular regions, workers and vulnerable groups," Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said in a statement. "The just transition special zone is significant in that it responds preemptively to the shock of transition and lets workers and residents take part as the main actors in designing their region's future."

Kim added that the ministry will complete the notice quickly so that regions expecting disruption are designated on time and receive sufficient support.