Inauguration set for Wednesday morning; key tasks include closing gaps in industrial accident insurance coverage and strengthening protections for vulnerable workers

Park Seung-heup, the incoming head of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service [The Herald Business DB]
Park Seung-heup, the incoming head of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service [The Herald Business DB]

Park Seung-heup, chairman of the Jeon Tae-il Foundation, has been appointed as the new head of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, marking the first time a labor activist has led the agency.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the agency will hold Park's inauguration ceremony Wednesday at 11 a.m. The head of the agency is appointed by the president upon the recommendation of an executive nomination committee and the endorsement of the labor minister.

Park graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Korean language education before founding the Korea Non-Standard Workers' Center in 1999, where he served as its inaugural director. He later served as publisher and chairman of Maeil Labor News, co-chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Jobs Committee, and chairman of the Gangwon Province Peace Economy Research Institute. His appointment puts a figure long dedicated to protecting the rights of non-regular workers at the helm of the agency responsible for industrial accident compensation and worker welfare.

The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service is a quasi-governmental agency under the Ministry of Employment and Labor that handles industrial accident insurance, some employment insurance functions, and worker welfare programs. Its responsibilities include industrial accident compensation and rehabilitation, living-stabilization loans, workplace childcare center support, and operation of "Pureun Siat," the retirement pension fund system for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Park's key priorities are expected to include closing gaps in industrial accident insurance coverage, strengthening protections for vulnerable workers, shortening the processing time for occupational disease claims, and ensuring the stable expansion of the Pureun Siat program. In its work report this year, the agency outlined plans to cut the processing time for occupational disease claims — including noise-induced hearing loss and occupational cancers — to 160 days this year and 120 days next year, while also broadening the scope of industrial accident insurance coverage.


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