A wheeled AI industrial humanoid robot is on display at Foxconn's annual tech conference in Taipei, Nov. 21, 2025. Reuters-Yonhap
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), a powerful umbrella labor organization with more than 1 million members, launched a joint consultative body with the government on Wednesday to address rising anxiety over artificial intelligence (AI) and rapid industrial change in workplaces.
As the Ministry of Employment and Labor and other government departments prepare for sweeping changes that new technologies are expected to bring across industries, including robotics and AI-powered production systems, the labor union called for a “human-centered” approach to the transition.
The ministry and KCTU formally inaugurated a high-level operational consultative body, under which representatives of both sides will meet monthly to discuss and seek agreement on key labor issues. The ministry set up a similar structure with another major labor union, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, on Monday, and also plans to do so with the Korea Enterprises Federation on Feb. 24.
At the launch ceremony, KCTU Vice President Lee Yang-soo urged the government to play a more active role in protecting workers amid industrial transformation and the rise of AI.
“Korean workers are now confronting new challenges, not only from changes in the broader environment but also from industrial restructuring and the rise of AI, which are reshaping both employment and how work is organized,” Lee said. “The government should take on institutional responsibilities that go beyond the level of individual enterprises.”
In response, Vice Labor Minister Kwon Chang-jun said this is the first structured channel for regular policy discussions between the government and KCTU, and that the consultative body will be used to gather on‑the‑ground input from workers and reflect it in policies on AI, industrial transformation and other issues.
The meeting comes amid growing unease over AI adoption displacing human workers. Last month, Hyundai Motor announced plans to mass-produce Atlas humanoid robots at its new U.S. plant by 2028 and gradually deploy them across its assembly lines. The company is promoting the project as the cornerstone of its “physical AI” future, in which AI-controlled machines work alongside or in place of humans to handle risky or monotonous tasks.
KCTU made it clear that one of its main priorities will be protecting human labor from AI-driven automation.
“In this time of major transition, whether these developments become a disaster that forces insecurity and sacrifice onto workers or an opportunity to improve quality of life will largely depend on the government’s choices and policy direction,” the organization said in a statement. “At the center of this transition, people, not profit, have to come first. Industrial transformation and technological progress that push basic rights to the margins will only intensify inequality and polarization.”
Source: Korea Times News
