작성일: 04/11/27
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Labor leader Lee Yong-deuk tried to reassure foreign business leaders in Seoul yesterday that he is friendly to foreign investment and will work aggressively to attract more to Korea.
Attending a conference hosted by Invest Korea, Mr. Lee, head of the Korean Federation of Trade Unions, said, "There are a lot of distortions about the Korean corporate environment and labor, which are more negative than the reality. I will actively take the lead in relaying the reality to foreign investors, and in resolving misunderstandings."
Invest Korea is a unit dealing with foreign investment that falls under the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Mr. Lee's audience included 30 heads of foreign businesses in Korea, such as Dorian Prince, EU ambassador in Korea; Joaquin Delgado, president of 3M Korea Ltd.; Dag Torvold, chief executive officer of Pan Asia Paper Korea, and Yves Dubois, president of Arkema Korea.
As for current labor-management relations, Mr. Lee said, "It is not as bad, or as worrisome, as viewed from abroad or reported by the media."
Mr. Lee said the tripartite committee of labor, government and management, first formed under former President Kim Dae-jung, should be used to resolve differences over labor issues. The commission still exists, but the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions no longer participates.
"The [Roh Moo-hyun] administration should add new members to the committee and begin three-way discussions during its term," he said. He said his labor group had proposed this to the governing Uri Party and the Blue House.
In response to a question by Mr. Dubois on whether Korean labor should expand its working hours, as is the case in Europe, Mr. Lee said, "That would be unfair because Korea has never cut its working hours, and Koreans usually work more than the legal 40 to 44 hours a week."
Full-time employees on the five-day workweek are supposed to log in 40 hours at most; all others still have to work 44 hours. All local companies will have to adopt the five-day workweek by July 2005.
As for labor disputes, he promised that his federation will make a long-term effort to devise a Korean model to resolve problems between labor and management.
Jongang Daily- November 26, 2004
04/11/27
57213번 읽음
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