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Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925 (No. 19) - Republic of Korea (RATIFICATION: 2001)

The Committee notes the report provided by the Government in reply to its previous comments and the observations made by the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) concerning the application of the Convention.

Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention. (a). Application to foreign workers of the legislation respecting industrial accidents. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates that the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (IACIA) is applicable to workers as defined under the Labour Standards Act (LSA). Furthermore, as the LSA prohibits any discrimination on the grounds, among others, of nationality, the provisions of both the LSA and the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act are applied equally to all workers, including foreign workers. The Committee notes this information. The Committee would nevertheless be grateful to be provided with additional information on the manner in which article 23(2) of the Act on foreign workers’ employment is applied in conjunction with articles 5 and 7 of the IACIA, with particular reference to the obligation set out in the Convention to grant to the nationals of any other Member which shall have ratified the Convention, who suffer personal injury due to industrial accidents, or to their dependants, the same treatment in respect of workers’ compensation as it grants to its own nationals. Indeed, while the above provision of the Act on foreign workers’ employment provides that foreign workers employed in certain businesses shall subscribe to casualty insurance to cover themselves against any illness or death, under the IACIA all enterprises using workers, except those businesses determined by Presidential Decree, shall be bound to be insured under the industrial accident compensation insurance.

(b). Application to foreign apprentices of the same treatment in respect of workers’ compensation for industrial accidents as that granted to apprentices who are its own nationals. The Committee notes that, according to the information provided by the Government, foreign apprentices do not benefit from the protection granted to national apprentices under article 105(3) of the IACIA. Nevertheless, the Government indicates that in practice this text is applied to them in accordance with the “Guidelines on the protection and the management of foreign industrial trainees” (Regulation No. 369 of the Ministry of Labour of 23 February 1998). Furthermore, both the Government and the FKTU indicate that the system for the employment of foreign trainees has been abolished and replaced since January 2007 by the Employment Permit System (EPS). The IACIA is now applied to all foreign workers who enter the country under the EPS. The Committee notes this information with interest and requests the Government to provide copies with its next report of legal texts guaranteeing the equality of treatment envisaged in the Convention. It would also be grateful if the Government would indicate whether foreign nationals who entered the country to work as trainees following the introduction of the EPS benefit in the context of this system from the same treatment as that granted to apprentices who are nationals in relation to industrial accidents. Finally, the Government is requested to indicate whether there remain in the country foreign apprentices governed by Regulation No. 369, referred to above, of the Ministry of Labour and, if so, to provide information on the manner in which the latter and their dependants benefit in practice from the application of the IACIA when they are nationals of a country that is a party to this Convention.