Labor activist Park Seung-heup tapped to lead Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service

Park Seung-heup, chairman of the Jeon Tae-il Foundation, has been tapped to lead the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service — the first labor activist to head the agency.

The service's executive nomination committee recently completed interviews for the new chairman position and recommended Park as the sole candidate, according to multiple sources.

The mood inside the agency is that Park's appointment is a foregone conclusion. A senior official at the service said the selection appeared "all but certain."

Under relevant law, the president makes the final appointment of the service's chairman from among candidates recommended by the nomination committee, following a formal proposal by the minister of Employment and Labor.

Park graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Korean language and literature, then founded the Korea Non-Standard Workers' Center in 1999, serving as its inaugural director. He went on to serve as publisher and chairman of the Maeil Labor News, co-chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Jobs Committee, and chairman of the Gangwon Peace Economy Research Institute, and currently chairs the Jeon Tae-il Foundation.

The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service is a quasi-governmental agency under the Ministry of Employment and Labor that administers industrial accident insurance, some employment insurance functions, and worker welfare programs. Its responsibilities include industrial accident compensation and rehabilitation, living-stabilization fund support, workplace childcare center support, and operation of "Pureun Siat," a retirement pension fund system for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The incoming chairman faces several key challenges: closing gaps in industrial accident insurance coverage, strengthening protections for vulnerable workers, shortening processing times for occupational disease claims, and ensuring the stable expansion of the Pureun Siat pension system.

In its work report this year, the service announced plans to cut processing times for occupational disease claims — including noise-induced hearing loss and occupational cancers — to 160 days this year and 120 days next year, while also expanding the scope of industrial accident insurance coverage.

Meanwhile, incumbent chairman Park Jong-gil took office in May 2023 and has already completed his three-year term, which ended in May this year.