Yoon Nominates Lee Jeong-sik as Minister of Employment and Labor... "Expecting a Rational Labor-Management Framework"

From Korea Federation of Trade Unions... 30 Years in the Labor Movement
"Willing to Meet and Communicate Openly with Anyone"

Lee Jeong-sik, former Secretary General of the Korea Labor Foundation, nominated as Minister of Employment and Labor Photo by Yonhap News

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has nominated former Secretary General of the Korea Labor Foundation, Lee Jeong-sik, as Minister of Employment and Labor.

On the afternoon of the 14th, during the third cabinet appointment announcement held at the Presidential Transition Committee press conference in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, President-elect Yoon nominated Lee as the first Minister of Employment and Labor in the new administration.

Regarding the nominee, President-elect Yoon said, "He is a person who has been involved in the labor sector for 30 years, primarily with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)," and described him as "a labor expert who served as the Director of Planning and Coordination and later as Secretary General at the KCTU."

He added, "He possesses extensive experience in labor sites and comprehensive policy expertise accumulated through various committee activities," and expressed expectations that "he will create a social atmosphere where the value of labor is properly respected and lay the groundwork for establishing reasonable labor-management relations."

Lee graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Economics and has held positions such as Non-executive Director of the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association, Secretary General of the KCTU, Worker Representative on the Minimum Wage Commission at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Secretary General of the Korea Labor Foundation, and Advisor to Samsung Electronics.

At the appointment announcement press conference, Lee commented on future relations with the two major trade unions, saying, "The President-elect has stated that for our society to progress healthily, labor must be respected and move forward together," and added, "I believe that open and candid meetings with anyone are the way to communicate, cooperate, and solve problems."

Regarding President-elect Yoon’s labor flexibilization policy direction and the increasing need for social dialogue to reduce growing labor-management conflicts, Lee said, "To change labor-management relations, laws, systems, consciousness, and practices all need to be changed, but it is not easy to have social dialogue amid extreme confrontations between labor and management," and emphasized, "It is necessary to start dialogue on areas where social consensus can be formed, such as youth employment issues, resolving polarization, and protecting labor in blind spots."