Ministry of Employment and Labor Conducts Special Labor Inspection on Wage Arrears at Ungji Tax College

"Focused Inspection on Violations of Labor Relations Laws"

On the 6th, Lee Jeong-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor, delivered a greeting at the 13th plenary session of the Economic, Social and Labor Council (Gyeongsanowi) under the President, held in the main conference room of Gyeongsanowi in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

Ungji Tax College in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, where wage arrears to faculty and staff were revealed, will undergo a special labor inspection by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 15th that it has formed a special labor inspection team at the Goyang Regional Employment and Labor Office and began a special labor inspection of Ungji Tax College on the 14th.

The ministry stated that this inspection is in accordance with the principle of conducting special labor inspections on workplaces with intentional and habitual wage arrears, adding, "We plan to focus on checking violations of labor-related laws throughout the workplace and respond with zero tolerance, including immediate legal action without correction orders."

Earlier, the ministry had established a policy to strengthen inspections on wage arrears this year, conducting special labor inspections on companies with more than 50 workers affected by wage arrears and damage exceeding 1 billion KRW, or companies that caused social controversy due to wage arrears.

An official from the ministry explained, "This is the first special labor inspection conducted this year under these principles," and added, "While the exact scale of damage at Ungji Tax College will be revealed through the inspection, it appears to meet both criteria."

According to the ministry, the domestic wage arrears amount last year reached 1.7845 trillion KRW, marking the largest scale ever with a 32.5% increase compared to the previous year.