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Korea


  • 24-October-2018

    English

    Working Better with Age: Korea

    Korea faces unique ageing and employment challenges. On the one hand, it will experience much faster population ageing than any other OECD country: the old-age dependency ratio (population aged 65+ over population aged 15-64), for example, is projected to increase from 20% today to around 70% in 2050. On the other hand, employment rates of older workers are already very high: in the age group 65-69, for example, 45% of all Koreans work compared with an OECD average of 25% (2016 data). However, most older people in Korea end up in poor-quality jobs after ending their core career in their early 50s, with low and insecure earnings and little or no social protection. This report looks at the reasons for the current labour market and income situation of older workers in Korea, especially the role of employment and employer practices. It examines the best ways forward for policy makers and employers to increase the quality of life and work of older workers whilst maintaining their high employment rate.

  • 14-March-2018

    English

    Towards Better Social and Employment Security in Korea

    This report on Korea is the fourth country study published in a series of reports looking into how policies connect people with jobs, following reports on Australia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. It has a special focus on low-income groups, jobseekers and workers, and policies geared towards closing the considerable gaps these groups are facing around income and employment support. In the past forty years, Korea has gone through a remarkable economic transformation and in the past two decades, the country has also put in place a comprehensive social protection system and a strong activation framework. Nevertheless, features of Korea’s labour market, which include very low job tenure, a high degree of duality and a high level of informality, make it difficult for some measures to reach workers and jobseekers. This report concludes that significant additional action will be needed to make income and employment supports more effective and inclusive.    

  • 5-December-2017

    English

    OECD Skills Strategy Diagnostic Report: Korea 2015

    Skills are central to Korea’s future prosperity and the well-being of its people. The OECD Skills Strategy Diagnostic Report: Korea identifies 12 skills challenges that need to be addressed to build a more effective skills system in Korea. These challenges were identified through: 1) the OECD’s recent data and research; 2) the national data and research; 3) a diagnostic workshop 4) fact-finding interviews with key stakeholders in Korea. The report has also benefited from ongoing dialogue and consultation with a wide range of Korean stakeholders. The first nine challenges refer to specific outcomes across the three pillars of developing, activating and using skills. The next three challenges refer to the 'enabling' conditions that strengthen the overall skills system. Success in tackling these skills challenges will boost performance across the whole skills system. All of the challenges identified are strongly interlinked, and their connections with each other are identified throughout the report. Failure to look beyond policy silos will have implications for specific groups in Korea, such as youth, as well as for the economy and society’s ability to recover following the economic crisis and build a solid foundation for future prosperity.

  • 11-October-2016

    English

    Labour market reforms in Korea to promote inclusive growth

    Labour market reforms are essential to promote social cohesion by removing obstacles to employment, particularly for women, youth and older persons.

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  • 15-October-2014

    English

    Employment and Skills Strategies in Korea

    With the rising economic importance of human resources and skills, employment and training agencies are now often expected to play a more important role in local strategies to support new creation, facilitate restructuring and increase productivity. The OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme has developed an international cross-comparative study examining the contribution of local labour market policy to boosting quality employment and enhancing productivity. In Korea, the review has looked at the range of institutions and bodies involved in employment and skills policies, focusing on local strategies in the Bucheon and Busan regions.

  • 18-September-2014

    English

    Reducing the high rate of poverty among the elderly in Korea

    One-half of Korea's population aged 65 and over lives in relative poverty, nearly four times higher than the OECD average of 13%. Elderly poverty is thus an urgent social problem.

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  • 29-July-2014

    English

    Reducing income inequality and poverty and promoting social mobility in Korea

    To strengthen social cohesion, a top government priority, it is essential to address the labour market roots of inequality by breaking down dualism to reduce the share of non-regular workers and to boost the employment ratio toward the government’s 70% target.

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  • 2-July-2013

    English

    Labour market policies to promote growth and social cohesion in Korea

    Labour market reform to improve growth prospects and reduce inequality is a top priority in the face of rapid population ageing and a dualistic labour market. Sustaining output growth requires policies to mitigate the impact of rapid population ageing by increasing labour inputs from under-employed segments of the population.

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  • 2-July-2013

    English

    Education reform in Korea

    The rapid expansion of education in Korea is exceptional and has played a key role in its economic development. Sustaining Korea’s growth potential in the face of demographic headwinds requires further improving the education system to boost productivity growth.

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  • 2-May-2013

    English

    Korea: Improving the Re-employment Prospects of Displaced Workers

    In Korea's dynamic labour market, job displacement (involuntary job loss due to firm closure or downsizing) affects many workers over the course of their working lives. Some workers are more vulnerable than others to this risk and may face long periods of unemployment/inactivity after displacement, particularly if their skills are not well-matched to emerging job opportunities. Even when they find new jobs, displaced workers tend to be paid less, have fewer benefits and are more likely to be overskilled than in the jobs they held prior to displacement. Helping displaced workers get back into good jobs quickly should be a key goal of labour market policy. To achieve this goal, Korea needs to increase resources devoted to re-employment programmes, such as job-search training and job matching, to improve their performance and better target those who need the most help. Existing training programmes need to be revised to ensure that people are obtaining skills that will help them find work. The social safety net also needs to be strengthened to lower the personal and societal costs of displacement, notably by improving the coverage of unemployment benefits.
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