The South Korean Parliament passed a motion to ratify three of the four core International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions that South Korea had not yet signed. These cover forced labour (29), freedom of association (87) and freedom to collectively bargain (98). However, the country has still not ratified the last convention (105) concerning the complete abolition of forced labour. This would conflict with national legislation on prison labour.
This vote comes after the report issued by the panel of experts on 20 January in the framework of the trade agreement between the EU and South Korea (see EUROPE 12643/11). They had found respect for fundamental workers’ rights, as set out by the ILO, to be binding under the terms of the agreement.
European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis congratulated South Korea on this step forward. “We now expect similar progress on the latest ILO convention on the abolition of forced labour”, he said. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)