Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 (No. 144) - Republic of Korea (Ratification: 1999)

Article 5 of the Convention. Effective tripartite consultations. The Government refers to the establishment and operation of the International Labour Policy Council (ILPC) to facilitate tripartite consultations regarding activities of the ILO. The Committee notes that in the period May 2022–May 2024, the ILPC held tripartite preparatory meetings for the 110th, 111th and 112th sessions of the International Labour Conference to discuss key agenda items and the plan for the tripartite delegations’ activities. The Government also refers to the establishment and operation of the Economic, Social and Labour Council (ESLC) under the President’s Office, which represents a platform for tripartite discussions on employment and labour policies as well as other economic and social policies. The Government further indicates that written comments were requested from the social partners about the annual reports on unratified and ratified Conventions pursuant to article 22 of the ILO Constitution. The received comments were sent to the ILO together with the Government’s responses. In this context, the Committee notes that in the period February 202–January 2024, the Government requested the social partners for opinions related to various unratified ILO conventions, which include Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183), Safe and Healthy Working Environment Convention, 2023 (No. 191), Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150), Workmen’s Compensation (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 12), Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925 (No. 19), Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), and Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 (No. 121). The Committee further notes the information about the meetings of the ESLC’s committees and their outcomes related to the implementation of international labour standards. From May 2021 to March 2024, the Committees discussed the rights and protection of platform workers, the current status of non-regular workers’ labour, prevention of serious industrial accidents and the introduction of time-off for public officials. Finally, the Government informs that on 6 February 2024, the 13th Plenary Committee of the ESLC adopted the “Declaration on Sustainable Jobs and Future Generations” and approved the plan to establish and operate three new committees: Special Committee for Sustainable Jobs and Future Generations, Work–Life balance Committee and Continued Employment Committee following Demographic Changes. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide detailed up-to-date information on the content and outcome of the consultations held on all matters under Article 5(1) of the Convention.

The Committee wishes to stress that it must examine the application of Convention No. 144 in the context of its latest comments on the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and recalls that the mere existence of formal procedures is not sufficient to ensure the application of the Convention. As the Committee highlighted in its 2000 General Survey, the mechanisms of its application are less crucial than the overall quality of social dialogue in the country concerned (para. 51). This quality depends fundamentally on harmonious relations between the parties and on consultations being undertaken in good faith. Such a climate, in turn, is only possible when the right of freedom of association is fully guaranteed to the representative organizations, which is the essential prerequisite for social partners to be able to state their views independently and for consultations to take place under conditions of total freedom and independence.