Governor Chu Miae: "Local Labor Inspectors to Be Fully Deployed This Year"... 170 to Be Recruited

Gyeonggi Province will operate "local labor inspectors" after being delegated part of the central government’s labor supervision authority. This delegation of local labor inspection powers, which had been persistently requested since 2019 when President Lee Jaemyung served as governor, has come to fruition with the launch of the ninth popularly elected administration.

On July 22, Gyeonggi Province Governor Chu Miae and Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Younghoon signed a "joint agreement to establish a central-local labor inspection collaboration system" at the Gyeonggi Local Employment and Labor Office.

Governor Chu commented, "Gyeonggi Province and the Ministry of Employment and Labor are coming together with the shared goal of labor respect, and taking this first step together is profoundly meaningful." She added, "Today’s joint agreement ceremony marks the first gateway toward a society that respects labor."

She continued, "Gyeonggi Province has already begun the process of securing 170 local labor inspectors, in line with the implementation of the Local Labor Inspector Work Enforcement Act in December." She emphasized, "When the President was governor, he called on the government to introduce local labor inspectors to resolve blind spots in labor safety. What was started as labor innovation by Gyeonggi Province during the seventh administration will be completed by the ninth administration."

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Younghoon stated, "The answer in labor administration is always found in the field, and Gyeonggi Province is a local government that has built up strong on-site experience.” He said, "The Ministry of Employment and Labor will make every effort to thoroughly support Gyeonggi Province’s proactive decision."

Under this agreement, Gyeonggi Province will: ▲prepare the organization and designate staff dedicated to work related to labor standards and industrial safety supervision; ▲establish and implement plans for labor administration centered on proactive prevention; and ▲pursue initiatives to spread compliance with labor-related laws among small business owners.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor will: ▲work on enacting and amending relevant laws and regulations for the stable implementation of delegated labor supervision authority; ▲provide education and training to strengthen local inspectors’ capabilities; and ▲develop education, administrative, and financial support measures necessary for the operation of the system.

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

This agreement is a proactive measure ahead of the "Local Labor Inspector Work Enforcement Act," which takes effect on December 8. Local labor inspectors will conduct field inspections, focusing particularly on small businesses and vulnerable labor sites where central labor supervision has had difficulty reaching.

To ensure the successful establishment of this new system, Gyeonggi Province will create a dedicated organization for labor standards and industrial safety supervision tasks in the second half of the year. Beginning on the 1st of this month, the province has already begun an open recruitment drive for 170 local labor inspectors.

The motivation behind Gyeonggi Province’s robust approach to labor administration lies in its regional characteristics. Small businesses with fewer than 30 employees account for 96% of all businesses in the province. This means that the limited number of labor inspectors under the previous central government–led system had clear limitations in the ongoing oversight of small workplaces, such as in the Hwaseong Aricell fire accident.

Governor Chu had announced the introduction of local labor inspectors during her candidacy, and the Gyeonggi Transition Committee—the gubernatorial transition team for the ninth administration—had made the swift introduction of local labor inspectors its first recommendation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.