Labor ministry, KELI bring rights education to out-of-school teens

South Korea's labor ministry said Sunday that the state-run Korea Employment and Labor Education Institute brought labor rights training to about 150 out-of-school teenagers at a Gyeonggi Province youth festival last month.

The institute, known as KELI, set up a booth called "KELI, My Job" at the ninth Gyeonggi Province Dream Ulim Festival, held Sept. 30 at the Gyeonggi Future Education Yangpyeong Campus.

The institute said it designed the booth to prevent abuses such as unpaid wages and unfair treatment that young people can face when they take part-time work or prepare for employment, and to show them how to respond.

At the booth, the institute ran screenings of labor education videos, one-on-one counseling on labor rights, a true-or-false quiz on workplace harassment, holidays, industrial accident insurance and the minimum wage, and a photo zone, with institute faculty specializing in labor law and industrial relations staffing the counseling desks.

Counseling focused on how to write an employment contract, pay and working conditions, and where needed the institute walked participants through how to seek help from public bodies, including youth labor rights centers and regional employment and labor offices.

"It is important that out-of-school teenagers know their rights and know where they can get help when difficulties arise, because they can enter the labor market relatively early through part-time jobs and employment," said Lee Jong-sun, the institute's president.

Lee added that the institute will continue field-based labor education and support under its "Employment and Labor Education 2.0" vision, so that young people both inside and outside the school system can protect their own labor rights.