Labor minister pledges support for family-friendly employers

[Courtesy of the Ministry of Employment and Labor]

South Korean Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik promised to explore how the labor authority could offer advantages to family-friendly employers with generous parental leave policies in a recent announcement on Tuesday.

The announcement came Tuesday when Lee visited Aju Pharm Co. headquarters in Seoul to attend a roundtable meeting for employees and employers of small and medium-sized firms. Four employees who took parental leave, four family-friendly employers, and Jeong Seong-mi, a researcher at the Korean Women’s Development Institute (KWDI), were present at the meeting.

The government is considering extending paternity leave up to 20 days from the current ten.

“Many developed countries have seen fertility rates and female employment rates increase simultaneously and have implemented measures conducive to balancing work and childcare responsibilities, which leads to more men participating in childcare,” Lee said, promising to make paternity leave more accessible for working parents to relieve their childcare burdens.