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President Lee Jae-myung delivers remarks during a meeting with senior secretaries held at the Blue House on May 21. / Photo courtesy of Yonhap News Agency

The Blue House announced on May 22 that President Lee Jae-myung will hold a meeting with Gilbert Houngbo, the Director-General of the International Labor Organization (ILO), later this morning. Against the backdrop of rapid shifts in the labor market and industrial structures driven by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), President Lee plans to share his administration's policy achievements as a labor-respecting government, along with its future directions for labor policy.

According to the Blue House, Director-General Houngbo is a seasoned diplomat who previously served as the Prime Minister of Togo and Deputy Director-General of the ILO. Since taking the helm of the organization, he has championed the expansion of decent work and the creation of an equitable labor market as his primary agendas.

The central agenda for the upcoming meeting will center on navigating labor market adaptations during the transition to AI. The Blue House explained that President Lee intends to highlight the ongoing restructuring of employment dynamics and industrial operations fueled by the proliferation of AI technologies, while outlining his government's labor-centric policy responses.

The two leaders will also discuss avenues for expanding cooperation between South Korea and the ILO. The Blue House envisions using the meeting to bridge international labor standards with domestic policies, while collectively seeking viable frameworks to address labor market challenges in the AI era.

The meeting will be attended by key government and presidential aides, including Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon, Chief of Staff for Policy Kim Yong-bum, and Senior Secretary to the President for Social Affairs Moon Jin-young. The ILO delegation will include Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa, the Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.

                                                                                                         Park Young-hoon