Back in December of 2020, three amendments to the Labor Relations Act, including the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (the “TULRAA”), passed in the National Assembly in connection to the ratification of the Fundamental Conventions of the International Labor Organization (“ILO Fundamental Conventions”), which had been a key national agenda item.  Then, in February and March of 2021, the National Assembly passed motions to ratify the ILO Fundamental Conventions and on April 20, 2021, the Korean government presented three key ratified conventions under the ILO Fundamental Conventions (as set forth below) to take effect one year thereafter.  Therefore, effective as of April 20, 2022, pursuant to Article 6(1) of the Korean Constitution, these ILO Fundamental Conventions have, in principle, the same effect as domestic law.
 

<ILO Fundamental Conventions (as of April 20, 2022)>

Notwithstanding, there is still uncertainty as to whether the ILO Fundamental Conventions take precedence over domestic law or vice-versa.  In accordance with the general principles of legal application, (i) the law with more specific provisions shall prevail, and (ii) if both laws are deemed equally specific, the applicable law shall be determined in accordance with the principle that the most recent law and the special law, which is applicable to a specific matter or to a specific person, shall prevail.  If challenged at the Korean courts, we believe domestic law would take precedence over the ILO Fundamental Conventions, which are quite broad and abstract.  However, though the likelihood of this is low, it is difficult to entirely rule out the possibility that the ILO Fundamental Conventions will take precedence over Korean laws based on the principle that the most recent law prevails.  Considering the foregoing at this stage, it is possible that the Korean courts may apply domestic law first and then apply the basic intent of the ILO Fundamental Conventions where applicable.
 
Meanwhile, with the ratification of the ILO Fundamental Conventions, labor-management relations are expected to encounter several changes.  First, based on the recommendations made by the ILO’s Freedom of Association Committee with regards to individual cases, the labor community is more likely to argue that matters to improve the political status of union members should be subject to collective bargaining, or that those engaged in special types of employment have the right to organize and bargain.  Furthermore, it is anticipated that the Korean government will demand additional amendments to the TULRAA to recognize platform and special types of workers as employees under the TULRAA, to recognize the principal company’s employer status for subcontractors’ union under the TULRAA, and to abolish the paid time-off system.
 
For your reference, the key amendments to the TULRAA mentioned at the top of our newsletter that were enacted in connection to ratification of the ILO Fundamental Conventions are as follows:
 

<Reference: Key Amendments to the TULRAA>

[Korean version]