Moon to hold meeting with labor leaders this week

President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to hold a meeting with officials and leaders from top labor organizations this week, an official from the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.

The meeting will be held Tuesday and will involve dozens of labor leaders, including those from the two umbrella labor unions -- the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.

The talks will nearly complete the president's series of discussions with all major economic players as he moves to implement his new economic and growth strategies, which are largely centered around boosting jobs and household income to trigger what he calls a virtuous cycle of increased spending and economic growth.

Moon met with the leaders of the country's top 15 business groups, including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, in late July.

Considered labor-friendly, the new president has vowed to create 810,000 new full-time jobs in the public sector alone, while also promising to raise the minimum wage to 10,000 won (US$8.83) per hour from the current 6,470 won per hour before his single five year term ends in 2022. The minimum wage is already set to jump 16.4 percent to 7,530 won at the start of next year.

While meeting with the labor leaders this week, the president is widely expected to ask for patience and compromise, as he has frequently stressed the need for effort, as well as concessions, from all parties.

"The employment issue cannot be solved by government effort alone, and it takes time to move the market. Still, there is nothing we can't do if the companies' efforts to create new jobs continue and new firms spring up while government continues to provide assistance through its policies," the president said last week in a meeting of the presidential commission on job creation. (Yonhap)