SEOUL-- President Moon Jae-in on Thursday called for a human-centered recovery from the impact of COVID-19 during a world leaders' forum organized by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the presidential office said.
Moon delivered a keynote speech via a video message at World of Work Summit, the main session of the International Labor Conference (ILC), according to Cheong Wa Dae.
He represented the Asia-Pacific region in the summit program of the conference, which was cancelled last year due to COVID-19 and is being held virtually from June 3 to 19.
In the speech, President Moon emphasized the importance of a human-centered recovery, a key agenda of the U.N. labor agency, to overcome the COVID-19 crisis and improve job conditions.
"While vaccines are being supplied and the world economy is on the path of recovery, the job market crisis is still ongoing. Given the trend of how employment growth is usually preceded by an economic recovery, the difficulty in the labor market could last for quite some time," Moon said.
He noted that over 250 million full-time jobs disappeared globally and that the employment crisis is harsher on the vulnerable.
The president said the nation remained committed to protecting jobs, upholding the spirit of solidarity and inclusiveness. Even amidst the COVID-19 crisis, South Korea advanced workers' rights by ratifying key ILO conventions and expanded mutually-beneficial local jobs models, he added.
Moon also underscored the importance or pushing for an inclusive recovery that is equitable for "everyone, every company and every nation" and added that the task is "something that cannot be resolved by purely leaving it to the hands of the market."
He introduced the Korean New Deal policy, which aims to accelerate transition to a digital and green economy in the process of overcoming the impact from COVID-19.
Moon is the first South Korean president to attend the ILO conference since the country joined the U.N. body in 1991.
Along with Moon, U.S. President Joe Biden, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Felix Tshisekedi, president the Democratic Republic of the Congo, made keynote speeches representing their continents.
Employee and employer representatives as well as government delegates from 187 ILO member states are attending the conference, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
A resolution on a global call to action for a human-centered recovery from COVID-19 will be adopted as a result of the in-depth discussions from the ILC, the office said.
Source: Yonhap News Agency