Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2005, published 95th ILC session (2006)

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Republic of Korea (Ratification: 2001)

1. The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s reports received in October 2003 and 2004 and the comments of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) attached to the 2003 report. The Government initiated reform measures in 2003 to restructure its public employment service system. In place of the 155 public employment service (PES) agencies, the Government will establish 46 "pioneer centres" that provide comprehensive employment services in each of the 46 regional administrations, 47 general service centres and 19 travelling teams that will reach individuals in distant locations. As of June 2004, 21 general service centres completed the reorganization process and the first six pioneer centres were launched in May 2005. The Committee would be grateful if the Government continued to provide statistical data in its next report and indicate the progress of the reform measures and their impact on the maintenance of full employment and use of productive resources.

2. The Committee would also appreciate if the Government would provide further information on the application of the following provisions of the Convention.

Article 4, paragraph 3, of the Convention. The Committee notes the participation of employers’ and workers’ representatives in the Employment Policy Council and the regional employment councils and requests information on the procedure adopted for their appointment to the councils.

3. Article 9, paragraph 1. The Committee takes note from the Government’s report that both public officials and private job counsellors staff the PES offices. Public officials are paid according to wage regulations, and job counsellors are paid according to the "Regulation on Job Counsellors". The FKTU has submitted a comment expressing concern that the 1,800 job counsellors employed in the PES offices, comprising 80 per cent of the total staff, are not adequately assured of stability of employment. Job counsellors are only given one-year contracts and, despite the overwhelming majority (99 per cent) who have graduated from a university or college, their salary is only 60 per cent of the salary of permanent staff, which results in frequent turnover. Moreover, the Government has indicated that, when the unemployment rate decreases, it would reduce the number of job counsellors by 10 per cent. The FKTU has acknowledged that the above factors result in employment insecurity for job counsellors. In light of the comments submitted by the FKTU and the importance of ensuring the independence of job counsellors, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the status and conditions of service of job counsellors in public employment service organizations. The Committee would also appreciate if the Government would provide a copy or an abstract of the "Regulation on Job Counsellors", which was referenced in the Government’s report.

4. Article 11. The Government reports that regional labour administrations are given flexibility to establish educational programmes in an effort to collaborate with national, regional, public and private employment agencies. The Committee would be grateful for further information on the programmes implemented by local governments to secure effective cooperation between the public employment service offices and private employment agencies.