Korea labor ministry's training institute to co-host fall academic conference on worker rights education

The Korea Labor Education Institute, a public body under the labor ministry, said Friday it will co-host the 2026 fall academic conference of the Korean Industrial Labor Studies Association on Nov. 6 at the Franciscan Center in Jeong-dong, central Seoul.

The institute, headed by President Lee Jong-sun, will run a session titled "The Era of Employment and Labor Education 2.0: Labor Issues and the State of Employment and Labor Education," presenting three topics centered on labor issues at public institutions and small and medium-sized workplaces and on survey findings about the demand for and supply of labor education.

One presentation will analyze the collective bargaining agendas emerging at public institutions as working conditions change, and examine what those cases imply for labor rights education. A second will look at how family-friendly work-life balance programs have taken hold at small and medium-sized workplaces and set out ways to improve the systems and strengthen related training there.

The third presentation covers the findings of a survey the institute conducted to establish a statutory fact-finding system tied to national policy tasks and the legislated basis for labor rights education. The institute analyzed 988 organizations in the training delivery system and interviewed 22 officials; it surveyed 2,220 members of the public and held focus group interviews with 20 people from vulnerable groups as well as in-depth interviews with experts.

The survey is expected to recommend integrating labor education into public schooling as a form of civic education, tailoring programs to different life stages and building an institutionalized supply system. A discussion session will follow on the direction labor education should take in the public and private sectors.

The institute has been pushing to move beyond training focused on industrial relations and labor law toward a "lifelong employment and labor education" system that would help everyone who works, from teenagers to current employees, career changers and older workers, understand the value and rights of labor and respond to a changing work environment.

Through the conference, the institute said it plans to broaden cooperation with academia alongside government, labor, business and training institutions, and to flesh out the goals of its "Employment and Labor Education 2.0" initiative with scholarly input. Those goals include expanding lifelong labor education, strengthening core capabilities for labor-management and social dialogue, training specialists in employment and labor administration, and reinforcing the institute's role as a national hub for labor education.