In December 1997, the Worker Vocational Training Promotion Act was enacted to replace the Framework Act on Vocational Training. Many regulations were repealed to promote voluntary training, consumer-oriented training, and training to improve the
24) For more information, see Kim and Sung (2005), Na et al. (2011), and Ministry of Labor (2006). The latest data was added with the help of Dr. Cheon-su Park of KRIVET.
vocational skills of incumbent workers. For this, the government maintained a role of support and assistance.
As the Worker Vocational Training Promotion Act came into effect in January 1999 and replaced the Framework Act on Vocational Training, which mandated compulsory vocational training by employers, numerous changes were seen in the existing training system which had been in place for decades. The categorization for public vocational training, in-plant vocational training, and accredited vocational training was abolished.
Instead, vocational training was now divided into ‘standard training’, which was conducted according to government standards for curricula, facilities, instructors, and other areas, and ‘non-standard training’. Furthermore, as a means of removing the negative connotations of the past, the term ‘vocational training’ was replaced with
‘vocational skills development training’.
With the introduction of the Worker Vocational Training Promotion Act, there was an explosive growth of trainees. The number of trainees almost doubled from 971,556 in 1999 to 1,810,792 in 2002. For the same period, the number of people receiving incumbent training grew by almost a million, from 802,800 to 1,747,806. The number of people receiving incumbent worker training increased because skills development programs were implemented as a part of the employment insurance program and because the scope of employment insurance was expanded significantly as efforts were made to overcome the financial crisis.
On the other hand, craftsman cultivation training decreased hugely. The number of persons receiving craftsman cultivation training decreased from 127,484 in 1998 to 40,123 in 2002 (see <Table 4-6>). The vocational technical schools run by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea were put in charge of both cultivation training
employment insurance system began to support the Human Resources Development Service of Korea for training, considering the difficulties of securing an adequate budget. Vocational training from the Human Resources Development Service of Korea was provided at its head office, International Training Center, Central HRD Center, and the 21 vocational technical schools. The 23 polytechnics across the country cultivated medium-skilled workers required for information-related industries and all those seeking jobs were able to find employment. Korea University of Technology and Education was in charge of training vocational training instructors.
<Table 4-6> Number of Trainees by Type (1999-2002)
(Unit: person) Year
Type 1999 2000 2001 2002
Total 971,556 1,303,094 1687,067 1,810,792
Craftsmen
Total 127,484 36,877 39,470 40,123
Public Training
Sub-total 127,484 36,877 39,470 40,123
HRD Service of Korea & 8,610 4,029 26,992 27,806 Korea Employment Promotion
Agency for the Disabled 8,610 4,029 3,896 3,547
Korea Chamber of Commerce
& Industry 288 526 619 687
Government agencies 4,513 4,777 3,904 3,909
Local governments 4,752 3,300 3,853 4,026
Korea Workers’ Compensation
& Welfare Service - 205 206 148
Training for employees 802,800 1,246,932 1,625,780 1,747,806
Multi-skilled engineers 38,145 16,208 18,871 19,481
Master craftsmen 413 430 343 347
Training instructors 2,714 2,647 2,603 3,035
Source: <Table 2-107> in Ministry of Labor (2006)
The vocational training management system was also reorganized. In January 1998, Korea Vocational Training Management Corporation was renamed as Human Resources
Development Service of Korea (HRD Korea). This was done to correct the popular misunderstanding that the role of HRD Korea was limited to the development of new manpower, although HRD Korea had overall responsibilities in both the development and management of industrial manpower. To incorporate polytechnics in accordance with the Education Act, the Korea Skills Development School Educational Foundation was established on February 5, 1998. The foundation was later renamed as the Polytechnic Educational Foundation in January 1999 and began to oversee the operation of polytechnics across the country. The Korea Vocational Training School Educational Foundation, which was approved for establishment in July 1989, was also renamed as the Korea University of Technology and Education Educational Foundation in March 1999. In 2000, the 19 vocational technical schools run by HRD Korea were transferred as polytechnics and merged with the existing 24 polytechnics, setting up a new system of seven regional universities, 29 campuses, and four specialized universities. The schools were also renamed as Korea Polytechnics. The primary role of HRD Korea changed from the development of skilled manpower to lifelong education support for workers and qualifications management.
In 2001, small and medium enterprise consortiums (SME consortiums) were introduced to support small and medium-sized enterprises by supplying high-quality manpower (cultivation training) and promoting the skills development of incumbent workers (enhancement training). The number of consortiums grew from six in 2001 to 70 in June 2007, and the number of participating SMEs increased from 1,029 to 59,833 during the same period. The consortiums are considered to have contributed greatly to the promotion of training in SMEs by sharing the facilities and training knowledge of large corporations. In 2008, similar efforts from other ministries were merged together into the national human resources development consortium project. As of 2013, the budget for this project stands at 146.2 billion won.
With the sudden increase of vocational training for the unemployed, it became difficult to meet industry demand for manpower. As a result, the trend had to shift from the supply-oriented training system, where training institutes focused on recruiting trainees, to the demand-oriented training system, or the ‘customized training’ system, which sought to train and supply the necessary manpower as required. The ‘customized training’ system was implemented in March 1999.
The vocational training (attendance record) card system was introduced. According to this system, cards were issued to trainees on vocational training programs for unemployed people nationwide and were used for electronic attendance management, which was previously done manually. The cards also helped reduce administration costs through the automatic calculation of training fees and training allowances. In addition, the training information of unemployed people could be managed systematically for greater efficiency in human resources management.
In 1998, the website www.HRD.go.kr was launched to provide training information by occupation type, region, and schedule and to facilitate the management of trainees covered by employment insurance. This website is currently run by the Korea Employment Information Service, which was established by the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
As vocational training expanded rapidly and a large number of universities, schools and private organizations participated in vocational training as part of the unemployment measures in 1998, despite their inadequate training infrastructure, limitations were seen in the efficiency and effectiveness of training. The evaluation of training institutes and training courses was introduced in 1998 in order to support training in career path selection, promote developmental competition between training institutes, and to lay a strong foundation for the training market by providing overall information on training institutes and courses. Evaluations in 1998 were performed in a dual system with the
first complete evaluation performed by local labor offices and the second sample evaluation by KRIVET. As of 2014, evaluations are administered by HRD Korea, the Vocational Skills Development Training Evaluation Center within KRIVET and Korea University of Education and Technology. The scope of evaluation was expanded in 2010 to include the evaluation of human resources development programs of central government ministries. In 2013, changes and enhancements to the evaluation system were sought by introducing competency evaluations, biennial cycle evaluations, and so on.
In December 2002, the Employment Insurance Act Enforcement Ordinance was amended to replace the training incentive system, which was provided to promote the re-employment of unemployed people, with the workers training subsidy system, which was designed to encourage incumbent workers to develop their own skills. The skills development training loan program was also introduced to provide workers with low-interest loans to cover the training costs. In terms of the vocational training participation rate, only 22.5% of enterprises imposed with the duty of vocational training (enterprises with 150 or more employees) provided training for their employees in 1994, but the vocational training participation rate rose to 63% after the refund incentive system was introduced in 2002.
In preparation for the age of knowledge and information, the National Technical Qualifications Act was amended entirely on February 9, 2004. The amendment mandated that the Minister of Labor establish and implement a basic plan for the development of the national technical qualifications system every three years and that a national technical qualifications policy review commission be installed within the Ministry of Labor.
It also became possible for some of the national technical qualifications tests to be consigned to relevant expert institutions and organizations that satisfied the requirements stipulated by the presidential decree.
Prior to the 1980s, most international cooperation in the field of vocational training was in the form of receiving financial and technical support from developed nations such as Germany, Belgium, and Japan and international organizations such as the UNDP and the ILO. However, after 1980, with the adequate development of the Korean economy and improved international status, Korea increased its contribution to foreign aid in the form of technical support for vocational training. Most the vocational training support projects undertaken in developing nations were focused on transferring Korean-style training programs and qualifications systems. Construction of vocational training centers, supply of Korean training equipment, invitation of training personnel and instructors to Korea for academic tours, on-site guidance by Korean experts, and other initiatives were carried out in order to transfer Korean technologies and teaching methods, to allow recipient nations to learn about the training system and culture of Korea, to promote international cooperation, and to lay the foundations for the expansion of the global market for Korean enterprises. Most notably, the ILO and the Asian and Pacific Skill Development Program (APSDEP) established the Seoul Institute for Vocational Training in Advanced Technology (SIVAT) in 1989 in agreement with the Korean government in order to promote vocational training in developing nations in the Asian and Pacific region.
The vocational training support budget of the Korean government exceeded 1 trillion won in 2007, went beyond 1.5 trillion won in 2009, decreased for a while due to the aftereffect of the global financial crisis, and since 2011 is on the rise again (see <Table 4-7>).
<Table 4-7> Vocational Ability Development Programs (2003~2013)
(Unit: person in thousands, Korean won in millions)
Programs 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Trainees Cost Trainees Cost Trainees Cost Trainees Cost Trainees Cost Total 1,870 7,793 2,181 8,584 2,606 9,767 2,606 9,767 3,757 12,227 Training for
employees 1,725 2,695 2,034 3,100 2,456 3,823 2,942 4,708 3,601 5,694 Grant for in-plant
training 1,662 1,808 1,958 1,982 2,351 2,365 2,752 2,969 3,000 3,409 Training on paid
leave 6 69 6 80 5 79 6 104 7 138
Subsidy for worker
training courses 29 42 39 59 71 117 156 289 269 528
Tuition loans 28 635 31 748 29 765 28 816 25 799
Loans for facilities
and equipment - - - 63 - 98 - 80 - 76
SME consortium - 141 - 168 - 399 - 450 - 744
Training for the
unemployed 113 2,663 109 3,116 117 3,070 112 3,498 127 3,935
Re-employment
training 90 1,750 82 1,970 93 1,985 82 1,885 93 2,165
- Re-employment training (with work experience)
58 1,320 53 1,242 64 1,368 54 1,285 65 1,526
- Employment
- Training for N.
Korea Immigrants - - - - - - - - 1 37
- Training for small
self-employers - - - - - - - - 3 20
- Self-support
program 3 58 2 74 2 56 2 47 2 59
Human resource
development training 23 913 27 1,146 24 1,085 30 1,613 34 1,770
- Initial training for
technicians 11 205 11 246 10 254 8 267 7 277
- Training for
priority occupations 12 708 16 900 14 831 22 1,346 27 1,493
Skilled workforce
training 32 2,435 38 2,368 33 2,874 27 2,146 29 2,598
Training for
multi-skilled workers 28 2,168 35 2,120 30 2,563 23 1,831 25 2,175 Initial training for
training teachers 4 267 3 248 3 311 4 315 4 423
Programs 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Trainees Cost Trainees Cost Trainees Cost Trainees Cost Trainees Cost Trainees Cost Total 4,184 12,756 5,172 15,126 4,371
[4,618]13,646 3,787 12,724 3,849 12,647 4,102 14,589 Training for employees 4,032 6,406 4,979 7,468 4,269 6,382 3,362 5,810 3,477 5,479 3,616 6,384 Grant for in-plant
training (Training on paid leave excluded)
3,654 3,826 4,504 4,329 3,764 3,468 3,004 2,849 3,180 3,126 3,284 3,213
Taining on paid leave 9 151 13 153 11 10 11 115 11 100 10 95
Subsidy for worker skills development (Subsidy for worker training courses)
288 535 281 560 263 496 163 286 165 305 212 542
Employee tomorrow learning card (Worker skill development card)
29 74 81 207 171 452 129 311 65 188 51 180
Essential vocational
skills training for SMEs 26 156 71 347 35 144 33 142 38 153 43 206
Tuition loans 26 878 29 991 25 908 22 798 18 692 16 623
Loans for facilities and
equipment - 84 - 98 - 67 - 80 - 50 - 63
unemployed 116 3,421 154 4,659 56
[303] 4,374 394 4,195 338 4,018 451 4,710 Re-employment training
(with work experience) 71 1,609 88 2,497 26
[207] 2,349 280 2,002 227 1,683 313 2,351 Employment training
(without work experience) 14 370 36 936 12
[78] 1,015 88 676 81 647 99 806
Employment
training(regional) 5 83 8 82 1 1 2 1 12 1 11 1 11
Training for N. Korea
Immigrants 1 40 1 41 - - - - - - -
-Training for small
self-employers 2 16 - - - - - - - - -
-Self-support program 1 48 - - - - - - - - -
-Training for priority
occupations 22 1,255 21 1,103 17 998 25 1,505 29 1,677 38 1,542
Public training 36 2,929 39 2,999 46 2,890 31 2,719 34 3,150 35 3,495 Training for
multi-skilled workers 25 2,185 29 2,247 36 2,126 21 1,925 24 2,288 24 2,498 Initial training for
technicians 7 274 6 256 6 266 6 263 6 279 7 296
Initial training for
training teachers 4 470 4 496 4 498 4 531 4 583 4 701
Note: 1) Until 2006, data for ‘Training for N. Korea immigrants’ was included in ‘Employment training (without work experience)’
2) 2010 [ ] includes trainees for ‘Worker skill development card’
3) 2010 Employment training (without work experience) is composed of data for new job seekers, small self-employer, non-covered matriarchs, and North Korean immigrants.
4) From 2011, ‘Re-employment training’ and ‘Employment training without work experience’ are included in Employee tomorrow learning card.
5) Since September 2011, program names have changed from ‘Subsidy for worker skill development training and ‘Worker skill development carr workers’ to ‘Employee tomorrow learning card’
6) ‘ - ’ is not available
Source: Ministry of Employment and Labor (Internal document)
The number of trainees participating in public training, such as craftsman cultivation training and multi-skilled technician training, has been decreasing in recent years, from around 40,000 in the early 2000s to around 35,000 at present. This pattern is thought to reflect the difficulty of recruiting trainees to public training institutes that were mostly installed in socially vulnerable regions. The range of training programs run by private vocational skills development training institutes has expanded considerably, and significant parts of the populations of socially vulnerable regions have either moved to other areas or are now older. Considering the extremely high cost for each trainee, this demonstrates that the government is not able to avoid the continuous restructuring of public vocational training institutes.
In April 2005, the vocational skills development innovation plan was established for to promote vocational training for socially vulnerable groups including non-regular workers and small business workers. The main activities of the innovation plan included the promotion and dissemination of industry learning organizations, the promotion of vocational skills development partnerships, the expansion of workers’ autonomous skills development support, the strengthening of the training-job link, and the advancement of the vocational skills development infrastructure. In order to promote the vocational skills development of workers in SMEs, in 2006 the government introduced the SME learning organization support program and the SME worker core vocational skills enhancement
support program, both designed to support the relevant costs. Another program introduced aimed to sponsor university entrance for SME workers in industries that lacked adequate manpower such as the manufacturing industry. In order to expand skills development opportunities for non-regular workers, wage support was also provided to any employer who ran skills development programs for non-regular workers in addition to support for training costs.
In order to promote labor-management cooperation, the labor-management joint training system was introduced in 2006 to support the costs for the joint development and implementation of vocational training programs by labor and management for socially vulnerable groups and others (see <Table 4-8>). The Ministry of Employment and Labor provided a support of 1.9 billion won yearly to nine organizations in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, the Ministry of Employment and Labor established a dedicated support system by commissioning the Korea Labor Foundation which is run by labor, management, and the government with labor-management joint training programs.
<Table 4-8> Labor-Management Joint Training (2006-2009)
(Unit: Korean won in millions) Year
Supported industries: Plant construction industry, Textile and garment industry, and others
Ministry of Employment and Labor
2007 9 1,875
Supported industries: Plant construction industry, Textile and garment industry, construction industry, and others
Ministry of Employment and Labor
2008 12 1,931
Supported industries: Plant construction industry, Textile and garment industry, construction industry, film industry, and others
No. of trainees: 2,896
Korea Labor Foundation
2009 20 3,995
Supported industries: Plant construction industry, textile and garment industry, construction industry, film industry, footwear industry, and others No. of trainees: 4,863
Korea Labor Foundation
Source: Korea Labor Foundation (2008, 2009)
Labor unions and emloyer organizations, which were the core administrators of the labor-management joint training programs, made important decisions concerning training operation in a decision-making body called the labor-management joint training operations committee. Nonetheless, the labor-management joint training system was abolished after five years in late 2010 and was merged with the region-specific job creation project from 2011.
In an effort to provide job-related information directly to TV viewers, the Ministry of Labor launched Work TV through the Human Resources Development Service of Korea in 2005. Previously aired through EBS from 2002, job-related programs were organized together as an independent TV station in September 2005. Subsequently, the operation of Work TV was allocated to Korea Business News Co., Ltd. from August 2007 and
dedicated commission was designated and was registered as the Korea Work TV channel provider. In January 2010, Korea Work TV was officially launched and started airing 24 hours a day. In November 2012, Korea Work TV was designated as a public service channel and secured a foundation to significantly increase its viewership. Its mobile web service (www.worktv.or.kr) was also launched to allow Work TV to be viewed on smartphones (iOS and Android) for added accessibility.
In 2006, the budgets of the vocational skills development program and the employment security program were merged for greater financial investment in vocational skills development, and the training cost support rates were increased (5.4%) to accommodate the training costs in real terms. 24 Polytechnics and 21 vocational technical schools of the Human Resources Development Service of Korea were also merged together and reorganized as Korea Polytechnics (11 polytechnics with 43 campuses), and HRD Korea was reformed as a dedicated institute of lifelong skills development.
In 2008, the vocational skills development projects undertaken by the Ministry of Labor, such as training for priority jobs and SME consortium training, were consigned to HRD Korea for improved subsistence and efficiency. Also in 2008, national strategic job training programs were conducted for young job seekers and young people who did not enter university. The training programs, which lasted six months to one year and were focused on the manufacturing industry, were provided to a total of 38,000 trainees and cost a total of 154.2 billion won as of 2013.
In 2009, the vocational skills development training account system (renamed as the
‘Naeil Baeum Card25)’ later), which was piloted the previous year, was adopted nationwide, providing a turning point for the focus of vocational training to shift from
25) It is translated into ‘Tomorrow Learning Card System’ in English.
the unemployed to trainees. General training for the unemployed, who used to number around 110,000 before the introduction of the account system, rose hugely to over 300,000 trainees in 2010 and is approaching 451,000 trainees in 2013. Despite the various criticisms caused by an inability to accommodate trainee requirements, as demonstrated by the low employment rate of trainees, the account system (‘Naeil Baeum Card-Tomorrow Learning Card System’) is considered to have made a visible contribution to providing training opportunities for lifelong vocational education.
On the other hand, the education and training innovation center support program was launched to support the sector councils (SC) in order to correct the quantitative and qualitative imbalance of industrial manpower supply and to develop workers with vocational competencies in an efficient manner by organically linking the demands of the new growth engine industries and the supply of the education and training institutes.
In 2010, the Workers Vocational Skills Development Act was amended to specify the cycle of the Basic Vocational Skills Development Plan by the Minister of Employment and Labor as five years. The Act mandated that the newly established basic plan be reviewed by the employment policy review board in accordance with the Framework Act on Employment Policy. The Act also established the basis for forming sector councils in order to promote active participation and the leading role of industry in vocational skills development. The Act on the Encouragement of Technical Skills was also amended to stipulate the establishment and implementation of the basic plan for the encouragement of technical skills every five years. The Act also provided a basis for supporting enterprises and private technical skill groups for the promotion of technical skills.
In 2011, various improvements were made to the vocational skills development
In 2011, various improvements were made to the vocational skills development