Moon vows to introduce universal employment insurance

May 11, 2020, 08:38 am

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President Moon Jae-in delivers a special address to mark his third year in office at Cheong Wa Dae, Seoul, on May 10, 2020./ Source: Cheong Wa Dae

By AsiaToday reporter Lee Seok-jong

President Moon Jae-in revealed Sunday that he plans to elevate the nation’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) to an administration and establish a system for multiple vice ministers within the Ministry of Health and Welfare while pushing to establish a national infectious disease research center and hospitals specialized in treating infectious diseases.

The president also vowed to dramatically expand the application of employment insurance to improve the country’s employment safety net, and push for the Korean New Deal to create new jobs in the digital infrastructure establishment sector.

Moon unveiled his top priority policy tasks for his remaining two years in office during a special address in Cheong Wa Dae to mark the third anniversary of his inauguration.

“We will further strengthen our epidemic prevention and quarantine system to become the undisputed “No. 1’ epidemic response country leading the world,” the president said.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be upgraded to the Disease Control and Prevention Administration to strengthen its expertise and independence. With the National Assembly’s approval, we will establish a system for two vice ministers within the Ministry of Health and Welfare,” Moon said.

“We will also push to establish hospitals specialized in treating infectious diseases and a national infectious disease research center. We will significantly enhance the public healthcare system and ability to respond to infectious diseases to build a safer Republic of Korea,” he said.

The president stressed that he would significantly expand the application of employment insurance to keep the lives of all our people safe from unemployment and threats to their livelihoods caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

To this end, Moon vowed to lay the foundation for an era of “universal employment insurance” aimed at benefiting everyone employed. He pledged to bring employment insurance to low-wage, temporary workers, freelancers, artists and those who are presently not covered. He vowed to gradually expand the eligibility for the insurance to cover all of the self-employed.

“Expanding the employment safety net is an essential task to bolster our economy’s dynamism as well. The laws and system will be revised to gradually broaden the range of eligible employment insurance subscribers. I ask the Assembly to support this through legislation,” he said.

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