First former member of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and candidate for Minister of Employment and Labor, Kim Young-hoon, says ”If you change your position, the scenery will change too” (Korea)

Kim Young-hoon, who was nominated as the Minister of Employment and Labor of the South Korean government, said on the 24th, "I believe that if you change where you stand, the scenery you see will also change. I am a former member of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
I will always keep this in mind, and from now on I will develop an integrated labor administration for all working citizens,” said candidate Kim at the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office in Jung-gu, Seoul on the same day.
"I will take the orders of the sovereign seriously and do my best in the tasks I'm given," he said.
The most pressing labor issue cited by candidate Kim was "eliminating labor market fragmentation."
"In a situation where the labor market is expanding beyond the structure of regular and non-regular employment to include more than just wage workers, the core issue is how to integrate this fragmented labor market," he said.
"The most urgent task is to guarantee the right to work to the many workers who have been outside the protection of the law for a long time," he said. Regarding social dialogue, he also stressed that "workers in small and medium-sized businesses can also participate in dialogue."
"They are desperately trying to find someone to talk to," he said, "in accordance with the International Labor Organization (ILO) principle that dialogue is an end in itself, and they are patiently and constantly meeting face-to-face, communicating and being persuaded."
Regarding the recent demand by the labor world for the repeal of the mandatory disclosure of labor union accounting, he said, "The Korean Labor Union and the Democratic Labor Union have pointed out that the previous administration's measures violated their autonomy.
"We will carefully consider this issue," he said, adding, "The government wants to support the realization of the right to organize voluntarily and the right to collective bargaining under the principle of labor-management autonomy."
In particular, with regard to labor issues such as the yellow envelope law, the 4.5-day work week, and the extension of the retirement age,
"It is an issue that must be considered at this time of great change for the Association," he said. He added, "Rather than forcing it through on mere pretext, I want to first understand the difficulties on the ground. I want to find a common solution where labor, management and government can work together."
Regarding concerns that some have raised about his lack of administrative experience, he acknowledged that this is a very real possibility, and said, "We will pool our wisdom with the excellent senior officials of the Ministry of Employment and Labor to address his lack of experience."
Candidate Kim joined the Korea Railroad Administration in 1992 and worked as an engineer for the Korea Railroad Corporation for over 30 years.
He has served as chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and as labor chief of the Justice Party. He is the first candidate for minister in the history of the Ministry of Employment and Labor to be a former member of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
Plans for restructuring labor-management-government relations and other issues are expected to be fully examined.