FKTU Announces Their Participation in Attracting Foreign Investors

Lee Yong-deuk, president of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), announced on Thursday, November 25, “We will participate in attracting foreign investors and take lead in breaking labor-management practices leaning exclusively to strife.”

According to KOTRA (the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency) on Thursday, November 25, Lee attended the fourth meeting for the investment advising group that Invest Korea, KOTRA’s exclusive organization for inducing investment, held at the Millennium Seoul Hilton Hotel. Lee lectured on the current situation of Korea’s labor-management culture, and said the details mentioned above.

Lee pledged, “Korea’s industrial environment or actual scene of labor is not negative nor pessimistic as foreign investors have pointed out. We will actively take the lead in conveying the actual situation of Korea’s labor industry to foreign investors and wipe out the negative perception.”

He added, “In order to carry this out, we will travel along with Invest Korea to overseas events for foreign capital inducements and participate in the efforts.”

Relating to the indications that there are many interventions of a third party in labor-management problems for individual firms, Lee said, “It is somewhat too early, but the FKTU will make long-range efforts for making a Korea-type model in which labor and management will individually make contracts with the company.”

On this day, 30 foreign company CEOs including EU Ambassador to Korea Dorian Prince, President Joaquin Delgado of 3M Korea, Executive Vice-president Tami Overby of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, and Chairman Nobuya Takasugi of Fuji Xerox attended the meeting.

Keuk-In Bae bae2150@donga.com