[News Terms] Government and Medical Community Clash Over 'ILO Forced Labor Prohibition Convention'

Resident Doctors Association "Immediate Stop to Forced Labor through Public Authority"
Government "Threat to Public Survival, Excluded from ILO Convention Scope"

The 'ILO Forced Labour Convention' refers to Convention No. 29 (C029-Forced Labour Convention, 1930) adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO), a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) established to improve workers' working conditions and status. It is a convention that prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor provided involuntarily. South Korea ratified the convention in February 2021 through the National Assembly, and the convention came into effect in April 2022.

It is one of the eight conventions related to freedom of association, prohibition of forced labor, prohibition of child labor, and equality of employment opportunities, presented in the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up.

A hospital where medical staff and patients are moving.
Photo by Yonhap News

The Korean Intern Doctors Association announced on the 14th that it sent an urgent intervention letter to the ILO through lawyer Jo Won-ik and former lawyer Jeon Byeol of the law firm Logos. Park Dan, the emergency committee chairman of the Korean Intern Doctors Association, stated, "The work commencement order under Article 59, Paragraph 2 of the Medical Service Act and the related penalty provision in Article 59, Paragraph 3 of the Medical Service Act violates the prohibition of forced labor under ILO Convention No. 29," adding, "The current government must immediately stop intimidating intern doctors and forcing labor through public authority such as work commencement orders and abolish Article 59 of the Medical Service Act, which suppresses the basic rights of the people."

However, the government maintains the position that the work commencement order for intern doctors does not violate the ILO convention. Convention No. 29 stipulates that forced labor exemptions apply in cases where the survival or well-being of the entire population or part of it is at risk or threatened.

The cases excluded from forced labor under Convention No. 29 include ▲purely military labor compelled by military service obligations ▲ordinary civic obligations of citizens in fully self-governing countries ▲labor compelled by court judgment (forced labor in prisons) ▲forced labor performed in emergency situations threatening the existence or well-being of the whole or part of the population, such as war or other disasters ▲small-scale community services.

Park Min-su, the 2nd Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, said, "The Korean government's work commencement order is judged to fall under the exemption from application of ILO Convention No. 29," adding, "Since it is expected that the ILO's decision will take a considerable amount of time, the government will actively respond and provide explanations."

Advance notice of administrative disposition for license suspension of medical residents sent by the government.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, the ILO's forced labor prohibition conventions include both Convention No. 29 and Convention No. 105. South Korea has ratified No. 29 but has not ratified No. 105. Although the ILO has consistently recommended that the South Korean government ratify Convention No. 105, the government and the National Assembly have ratified only the other seven conventions excluding No. 105.

During the Moon Jae-in administration, three conventions including No. 29, No. 87, and No. 98 were ratified in February 2021, but No. 105 was ultimately excluded from ratification. At that time, Lee Jae-gap, Minister of Employment and Labor, who promoted the ratification, explained, "Considering our country's penal system and the situation as a divided nation, additional review was necessary regarding whether to proceed," adding, "It is a problem that requires reform of the entire domestic penal system."

Convention No. 105 prohibits forced labor as punishment for expressing political opinions. In other words, since it conflicts with the South Korean government's imprisonment penal system, ratification of No. 105 is considered difficult unless imprisonment penalties are abolished. Among the 36 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that are members of the ILO, South Korea is the only country that has not ratified No. 105, and among the 187 ILO member countries, 176 have ratified No. 105.