Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) hold a closing rally after marching toward Cheong Wa Dae on July 15. [Yonhap]
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) hold a closing rally after marching toward Cheong Wa Dae on July 15. [Yonhap]

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) is reviewing plans to establish a new social dialogue body separate from the presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC).

The federation is maintaining its longstanding boycott of the ESLC while seeking a new labor-management-government consultation model to address pressing issues including the spread of AI and industrial transition.

Labor sources said Thursday that the KCTU discussed forming a separate tripartite consultative body at its Central Executive Committee meeting that day. The proposed body would operate through deliberation and consensus-building rather than formal votes, and would allow industry-level unions and federations to participate directly, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The KCTU also reaffirmed at the meeting its existing policy of not joining the current ESLC, sources said. The federation's view — that government-led social dialogue bodies have served mainly to support government policy rather than adequately reflect labor's positions — remains unchanged.

The central question for any new body is its decision-making structure. Unlike the current ESLC, which concludes discussions on government-proposed agenda items with a formal vote, the model under consideration would pursue consensus through extended deliberation with no voting mechanism.

The KCTU has recently used a similar approach in National Assembly social dialogue sessions, where it discussed AI and expanding social insurance coverage for non-standard workers. Those talks did not produce a final agreement, but the outcomes were forwarded to the government and the Assembly as recommendations.

The composition of participants is also expected to change. Rather than having the KCTU's central organization represent all affiliated workers, the model under discussion would expand direct participation by industry-level unions and federations in sector-specific dialogue. Such arrangements already exist in several areas — including labor-government consultations between the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the two major union federations, a separate channel covering household waste management, and a tripartite body for the shipbuilding industry.

The KCTU's interest in a new dialogue model appears driven by a judgment that labor must play a more active role in policy decisions as AI adoption and industrial and energy transitions accelerate. The federation sees a need for an institutional channel through which workers' voices can be incorporated into responses to technological innovation and the climate crisis.

President Lee Jae Myung had also asked the KCTU to engage in social dialogue at a meeting with the federation in April. At the time, Lee expressed understanding for the KCTU's reasons for boycotting the ESLC and proposed that the federation "actively consider" joining social dialogue, saying he was "now ready to accept reasonable demands."


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