President Moon Jae-in met with Director-General of the International Labor Organization Guy Ryder at Cheong Wa Dae this afternoon. At the meeting, President Moon explained to the Director-General endeavors being made by the Korean Government to realize a society where labor is respected, including an increase in the minimum wage to support income-driven growth and a policy to shift non-regular workers to regular employment. The President called on him to spread these facts about Korean Government policies far and wide in the international community. Noting that Korean Professor Chung Chin-sung was appointed as a member of the ILO’s Global Commission on the Future of Work, President Moon asked Director-General Ryder to pay special attention to capable Koreans so that many more of them would be able to work on the diplomatic stage in the field of international labor.

In reply, Director-General Ryder said that the Korean Government`s policy of income-driven growth was in line with ILO`s wage-led growth strategy. He also spoke highly of the new Administration`s labor policy aimed at ensuring that labor is respected in society because that was in accordance with the spirit of the ILO, which brings together representatives of governments, employers and workers.

President Moon and Director-General Ryder also shared an understanding that since there were various opinions on the issue of revising the Korean labor law in line with international standards, it needed to be resolved through concessions and compromise in the course of public discussions. They also agreed that the Korean Government and the ILO would actively cooperate on developing Korea’s labor policy.