[Editorial] Will the Government Stand Idly By, Citing "Difficulty with Presidential Decree"?

Debate between the President and the relevant cabinet minister over whether the criteria for industrial action under the Yellow Envelope Act (amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act) can be set by presidential decree continues to stall and must now be brought to a close.

The root of the problem lies in the National Assembly’s decision to use the broad phrase “business management decisions” without providing a basis for delegating detailed criteria to subordinate regulations. On the ground, unions and management are divided on whether business decisions such as plant construction, relocation, investment, or business restructuring qualify as legitimate grounds for industrial action. Another point of contention in the amended law is the determination of who constitutes an employer; as of July 10, labor commissions had received 458 applications related to this issue. If each dispute must be litigated on a case-by-case basis whenever it arises, both companies and workers will inevitably bear the cost of this uncertainty.

There is some validity to Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon’s concern that specifying the boundaries of industrial action through a presidential decree could be deemed illegal or invalid if it strays beyond the scope of the parent law. However, simply supplementing interpretive guidelines will not resolve the uncertainty at workplaces. The administration must thoroughly examine, in cooperation with the Ministry of Government Legislation, how much it can clarify standards via presidential decrees or implementing rules without contravening the underlying law. If this still proves difficult, the responsible course of governance is for the government to draft a revision to the law adding necessary criteria and delegating authority, then submit it to the National Assembly and persuade lawmakers to pass it.

The labor community should not simply dismiss this debate as “siding with business interests.” Broadening the scope of industrial action compared to the past is a separate issue from clearly defining the boundaries of that expanded scope. While industrial rights should not be arbitrarily curtailed by presidential decree, there is no justification for blocking the establishment of standards that allow both labor and management to reasonably anticipate their rights and obligations. If labor rejects the very act of setting boundaries, the resulting uncertainty could allow every management decision to become subject to industrial disputes—an outcome that serves neither workers nor companies.

The Yellow Envelope Act should not become the subject of renewed partisan confrontation. Issues that can be resolved through presidential decrees should be addressed administratively, and statutory amendments where necessary should be enacted through supplementary legislation. It is the government’s responsibility to pursue all possible administrative measures and, where essential, to lead legislative change.

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