Korea labor council picks six citizen-chosen job tasks for deliberation
In short
The Economic, Social and Labor Council's special committee on population structure change and jobs selected six core tasks, including generational communication, mentoring-based skills transfer, redesign of jobs and working hours, regional job creation, flexible work and lifelong vocational education, chair Kim Ji-hyung said at a briefing in Seoul on Oct 6. The six were chosen from about 4,600 opinions raised by 277 citizens in two rounds of deliberation, after 2,146 online submissions. A citizens' conference with 100 participants is planned for Oct 24-25, with a citizen proposal to be submitted to the committee in December.
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The Economic, Social and Labor Council's special committee on population structure change and job deliberation has selected six core tasks to focus on, its chair Kim Ji-hyung said at a briefing at the council in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Oct 6. [ 1 ]
Three tasks fall under coexistence jobs: communication between generations and organisational culture, together with social consensus and conflict mediation; the mutual transfer of skilled techniques between generations through mentoring and the spread of collaborative jobs; and the redesign of job duties, working hours and compensation systems. [ 1 ]
Three more fall under lifelong jobs: creating quality jobs by region and fostering employment industries; expanding parental leave and flexible work and building work environments suited to each stage of life; and strengthening lifelong and vocational education across the life cycle. [ 1 ]
The committee, launched in July, said it departed from the earlier practice of presenting a set agenda and asking for approval or a choice, and instead had citizens set the detailed agenda themselves. It held one-to-one “vivid jobs dialogues” among 46 citizens in August, opened an AI-based platform that collected 2,146 opinions, and held the first stage of deliberation twice: on Aug 30 at Yonsei University in Seoul for capital-region participants and on Sept 5 at Korea University of Technology and Education in Cheonan for participants from outside the capital region. [ 1 ]
A total of 277 people took part in the two deliberations, producing about 4,600 opinions. The committee's deliberation team and agenda advisory group reviewed the proposals, first narrowing them to 10 tasks, then asking the 277 participants to choose and cutting them to six. [ 1 ]
Next, the committee plans a citizens' conference with 100 participants on Oct 24-25, to be followed by drafting of a citizen proposal in November and its final submission to the special committee in December. [ 1 ]
Newsis reported that the council was introducing its first citizen-led deliberation of job tasks. [ 2 ]
Why it matters
The committee says it is trying a citizen-led approach in which participants set the detailed agenda instead of choosing between options put to them, a method it plans to carry through the remaining stages of deliberation. The six tasks now move to an October citizens' conference and a proposal to the committee in December, though the documents do not say what effect the outcome will have on policy.
Key facts
- The special committee sits within the Economic, Social and Labor Council and was launched in July. [ 1 ]
- Six core tasks were selected: three under coexistence jobs and three under lifelong jobs. [ 1 ]
- Some 277 citizens took part in two rounds of deliberation and raised about 4,600 opinions. [ 1 ]
- An AI-based deliberation platform received 2,146 opinion submissions. [ 1 ]
- A citizens' conference with 100 participants is scheduled for Oct 24-25. [ 1 ]
- Newsis reported that the council was introducing its first citizen-led deliberation of job tasks. [ 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The Economic, Social and Labor Council's special committee selected six core job tasks after citizen deliberation, chair Kim Ji-hyung said at a briefing on Oct 6. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The six tasks cover generational communication and organisational culture, mentoring-based transfer of skills, redesign of job duties, working hours and pay, regional job creation, parental leave and flexible work, and lifelong vocational education. [ 1 ]
- Two rounds of deliberation were held, on Aug 30 at Yonsei University in Seoul and on Sept 5 at Korea University of Technology and Education in Cheonan, with 277 participants producing about 4,600 opinions. [ 1 ]
- The committee was launched in July and collected 2,146 opinions through an AI-based deliberation platform. [ 1 ]
- A citizens' conference with 100 participants is planned for Oct 24-25, followed by a citizen proposal in November and its submission to the special committee in December. [ 1 ]
Still unclear
- What happens after the citizen proposal is submitted to the special committee in December, and whether the six tasks will lead to government policy. Document 1 sets out the plan only up to submission in December and states no binding outcome.
- Details of the labour deliberation from Newsis. Newsis's headline and summary refer to the council introducing its first citizen-led job-task deliberation, but its article text is about an unrelated National Assembly audit of the Supreme Court chief justice and gives no details of the labour event.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- The special committee on population structure change and job deliberation is launched. [ 1 ]
- Forty-six citizens hold one-to-one “vivid jobs dialogues” as a pre-deliberation step. [ 1 ]
- Capital-region participants deliberate at Yonsei University in Seoul. [ 1 ]
- Non-capital-region participants deliberate at Korea University of Technology and Education in Cheonan. [ 1 ]
- Chair Kim Ji-hyung briefs reporters at the council in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the six selected tasks; Yonhap reports. [ 1 ]
- Newsis publishes its report on the council introducing the deliberation. [ 2 ]
- A two-day citizens' conference with 100 participants is scheduled to begin on Oct 24 and run to Oct 25. [ 1 ]
- A citizen proposal is to be drafted. [ 1 ]
- The citizen proposal is to be finalised and submitted to the special committee. [ 1 ]