Minister kicks off tour of 8 regional labor offices in administration's second year

Youth-focused employment center inspected; minister calls for stronger frontline role

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon attends a field meeting with workers at an outdoor plaza in Gasan Digital Complex in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul. [Ministry of Employment and Labor]
Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon attends a field meeting with workers at an outdoor plaza in Gasan Digital Complex in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul. [Ministry of Employment and Labor]

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon has launched a series of field visits to regional labor offices across the country as the administration enters its second year. He began with a trip to the Daegu Regional Employment and Labor Office to review youth employment support programs and the progress of labor and industrial safety policies.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Thursday that Kim will visit all eight regional employment and labor offices nationwide between June and July to hear directly from frontline staff and assess the results of locally tailored programs.

The tour is designed to verify that region-specific programs are functioning as intended, encourage frontline employees, and align policy implementation between the ministry's central headquarters and its regional offices as the administration marks its second year.

Kim chose the Daegu office as his first stop because it has been a pioneer in operating a youth-specialized employment center aimed at easing youth unemployment. The center identifies young people who have given up on job-seeking or are actively preparing to enter the workforce, and connects them with in-depth counseling, job-readiness programs and work-experience opportunities.

Among its flagship offerings are small-group job consulting sessions and mock interview programs under the "Youth Employment GYM" initiative, AI-assisted in-depth counseling, and work-experience programs run in partnership with companies in the IT, public institution and medical-health sectors.

During the visit, Kim reviewed the center's operations and examined the office's progress on labor policy initiatives, including efforts to prevent wage theft, support cooperative bargaining between prime contractors and subcontractors, and eliminate the abuse of comprehensive wage arrangements, as well as industrial accident prevention activities.

The Daegu office conducts comprehensive investigations whenever wage theft is reported in sectors vulnerable to minimum wage violations, such as convenience stores, and has stepped up compulsory investigations targeting employers with a history of willful nonpayment. It is also providing cooperative bargaining consultations for prime and subcontractors and conducting workplace-tailored safety inspections.

"Regional labor offices play a crucial role in ensuring that everyone — from young workers to those in middle and later careers — can work with dignity," Kim said. "Employment centers must serve as the frontline base for delivering local employment services, acting as a lifelong job partner for young people in the region from graduation to retirement."

He added that the ministry's headquarters and regional offices would work in concert to focus their efforts on reviving local employment and building better workplaces, so that the public can feel the tangible effects of government policy.

Following the Daegu visit, Kim is scheduled to tour the Daejeon, Gyeonggi, Busan, Jungbu, Gwangju, Gangwon and Seoul Metropolitan offices in succession, continuing his outreach and field inspections with staff at each location.


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