TRADE unions in South Korea have welcomed government ratification of fundamental international labour conventions after decades of campaigning, hoping it will end the persecution and jailing of workers.

The historic move was announced with Seoul coming under intense pressure to reform labour laws and protect workers’ rights, with unions insisting that the campaign continues.

Federation of Korean Metalworkers’ Trade Unions president Kim Man Jae said: “The government now needs to revise the Trade Union Act and must stop excessive interference in industrial relations.”

Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) president Kim Ho Gyu said: “We thank the international trade union movement for the solidarity during our 30 years of struggle for ratification of the ILO conventions. 

“We pledge that KMWU will continue the struggle throughout the supply chains of the Korean chaebol.”

Huge protests took place across South Korea last year in protest against the country’s regressive labour laws and for the right to join trade unions and organise collectively.

They paid tribute to Chun Tae-il who set himself on fire 50 years ago holding a copy of the country’s labour law and is seen as a martyr in the trade union movement. 

South Korea’s government had been under pressure from the European Union to ratify the ILO’s fundamental conventions, as stated in the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement, in force since 2011.

On January 25 this year, an EU panel of experts concluded that the Korean government violated the labour commitments in the agreement.

IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches said: “The long history of workers’ rights violations in Korea seems to have come to an end thanks to the tireless historical fight and campaign of the Korean unions that led to this important victory.

“As we welcome the ratifications of ILO’s core conventions, we expect South Korea’s government to promptly amend the labour legislation accordingly and most of all implement the conventions’ provisions.”