The United States has proposed cooperation with South Korea on labor policies. 

The Ministry of Employment and Labor said on Friday that US Trade Representative(USTR) Katherine Tai made the proposal during her meeting with Minister An Kyung-duk in Seoul earlier in the day. 

According to the ministry, it is rare for the South Korean labor minister and the USTR to sit down for bilateral talks, adding that the Friday meeting was arranged at Tai’s request. A growing global emphasis on trade and labor relations likely prompted the meeting, it said. 

During the talks, An mentioned the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement’s chapter on labor and introduced Seoul’s efforts to enhance workers’ basic rights, including ratification of three International Labor Organization conventions. 

Tai also briefed An on the Joe Biden administration’s labor-friendly trade policies, including  one dubbed “No One Left Behind,” and proposed the U.S. and South Korea work together to further raise international labor standards. 

Noting that the U.S. is gravely concerned about forced labor and child labor, she proposed the two allies strengthen bilateral cooperation in the field as they have done on diplomacy and defense.