Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Republic of Korea (Ratification: 1999)

The Committee notes the Government’s report.

Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee had previously noted that the Labour Standards Act (LSA) did not apply to any business or workplace which employs only relatives living together and those who are hired for domestic work. The Committee had noted that the Government did not, at the time of ratification, avail itself of the possibility to exclude limited categories of employment, in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention and had reminded it that the Convention applies to all types of work or employment, including family or domestic work. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it will inform the Office in case it takes or draws up measures to ensure that children performing work as members of a family and performing domestic work benefit from the protection laid down in the Convention. The Committee accordingly encourages the Government to take such measures in the near future.

Article 3, paragraph 3. Exception to the age of 18 years for admission to hazardous work. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted that section 39 of the Enforcement Decree of the LSA states that children aged
16–18 years temporarily be employed in a pit and in certain types of work. The Committee had requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the health, safety and morals of these children are fully protected and that they receive adequate specific instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity in conformity with Article 3, paragraph 3, of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s information that no adolescents aged 15–19 years have been engaged in mining for the past five years. Accordingly, the Government is not faced with urgent needs for policies which specifically deal with the protection of children working in pits.

Article 7, paragraph 1. Light work. Following its previous comments, the Committee takes note of the copy of the Work Guidelines for Labour Inspectors (WGLI) sent along with the Government’s report.

Article 9, paragraph 1. Penalties. The Committee takes due note of the copy of the survey to assess the comprehensive status of juveniles in contact with harmful environments in 2002 provided by the Government. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that this survey is conducted every three years. Furthermore, it observes that the results indicate that an important percentage of the 13,051 middle and high school students and of the 1,406 adolescents of specialized groups (runaway adolescents, adolescent delinquents, adolescents at reformatory) included in the survey have been employed in harmful businesses, such as clubs, rock cafes, video rooms, etc. The Committee also notes that, out of the important number of adolescents who have been employed in harmful businesses, 30 per cent of general adolescent respondents and 55.3 per cent of adolescent respondents of the specialized group claimed that they were engaged without having their age checked. Meanwhile, 4.6 per cent of general adolescent respondents and 18.5 per cent of adolescent respondents of the specialized groups claim they have entered this harmful business by concealing their real age. In view of these findings, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to ensure the effective enforcement of the Convention, including the application of sanctions. It also asks the Government to provide information on whether or not a survey to assess the comprehensive status of juveniles in contact with harmful environments was conducted in 2005 and, in that event, to provide information on the results of said survey.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the statistics supplied by the Government in its report. The Committee notes that the Government has also supplied an analysis of the results of control of workplaces employing minor workers’ compliance with required working conditions for young people, as well as a report of the current status of handling of reported cases of violations of working conditions for young people. The Committee notes that, according to the data of 2006, 876 workplaces out of 1,502 were found violating the legislation on the employment of minors (for a total of 1,718 violations), and in particular: four violations for employing minors without an employment permit and 450 violations for not keeping the required certificate of workers under 18 years of age who were employed. The Committee also observes that in 2006, a total of 603 cases have been handled involving minors and that 72 of those cases have received judicial treatment. However, the Committee notes an absence of information concerning young people under the age of 15 years exercising an economic activity. Therefore, the Commission asks the Government to continue providing information on the application of the Convention in practice, including the number and nature of contraventions reported and penalties imposed and, more specifically, statistics on the number of children in the age bracket of 15–18 years and those under the age of 15 years exercising an economic activity.