Anchor: The South Korean government will push to ratify key international labor conventions amid criticism the nation’s labor rights fall short of global standards. If related laws are established to ratify the conventions, senior-level civil servants and teachers in South Korea will be able to join labor unions for the first time.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more. 

Report: The Ministry of Employment and Labor revealed Tuesday it has devised revisions to related laws to ratify key conventions of the International Labor Organization(ILO) and will issue an advance notice of the revisions on Wednesday. The ratification of key ILO conventions must be accompanied by revisions of related laws in a way that reflect the conventions’ standards. 

Under the revisions, the unemployed and people who were laid off will be allowed to join trade unions and it would allow the payment of wages for full-time union members. 

Also, the revisions would permit civil servants, teachers, retired public employees, firefighters and university staff who are grade five or higher to join labor unions.

With the revisions focusing mostly on improving labor rights, the revisions also seek to ban labor unions from occupying key facilities of a business to guarantee employers’ right to counter. 

On July 22nd, the Labor Ministry asked the Foreign Ministry to seek legislative consent for adopting three ILO conventions that South Korea has yet to ratify. 

Labor Minister Lee Jae-kap said the guarantee of labor rights is becoming  increasingly important in free trade agreement negotiations. In particular, he noted the European Union has raised issue with South Korea’s failure to adopt key ILO accords. 

To this end, the minister said the government is pursuing legislative procedures so that the National Assembly’s regular session addresses revisions to related laws as well as a motion on ratifying the key ILO conventions. 
  
South Korea became a member of the ILO in December 1991 but has yet to ratify four of the organization’s eight key conventions. The three ILO conventions that the government is seeking to ratify are related to the freedom of association, the right to organize and the banning of forced labor. 
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.