TruckSol Expresses Deep Regret Over the Ministry of Employment and Labour’s Statement Undermining the Intent of the ‘Yellow Envelope Law’

Regarding the Ministry’s press statement issued on April 20

In its press statement on April 20, the Ministry of Employment and Labour stated that the casualties which occured during KPTU-TruckSol’s protest constituted a situation going “beyond the issue of lead firm-subcontractor bargaining under Article 2 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act (TULRAA),” and characterised TruckSol members as ‘small business owners’ or ‘self-employed’. However, the very purpose of recent revisiosn to the TULRAA (the ‘Yellow Envelope Law’) is to guarantee rights for workers, such as truck drivers, in special employment arrangements, platform workers, and freelancers. In this context, the Ministry’s statement is particularly disappointing, as it fails to recognise the structural vulnerability of these workers and the multiple barriers they face in exercising their fundamental labour rights.

This Lee Jae Myung government has pledged to strengthen protection of fundamental labour rights to meet international standards. In 2024, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) raised issue with the government’s denial of the legitimacy of truck drivers’ union when the Yoon Suk Yeol administration violated our fundamental labour rights through return-to-work orders. The ILO CFA recommended that the government take all necessary measures to ensure that ‘specially-employed’ or ‘self-employed’ truck drivers can fully exercise our right to freedom of association. This recommendation reaffirmed an earlier recommendation issued in 2009.

During his confirmation hearing, Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) Chair Joo Byung-gi acknowledged that the KFTC’s actions during the 2022 general strike in for the continuation and expansion of the Safe Rates System had “infringed upon constitutional rights,” and issued an apology. Legislation is now being prepared to exempt specially-employed workers, such as truck drivers, from the application of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. Furthermore, the Seoul High Court annulled a KFTC warning against the TruckSol Samsung Chapter, which had been treated as a business association, affirming instead that the chapter’s activities were legitimate trade union actions protected under the TULRAA and should be excluded from the scope of competition law. Does it make sense that we truck drivers must be deemed workers by the KFTC before we are recognised elsewhere?

Given that a single statement from the Ministry can be decisive in determining if the implementation of the Yellow Envelope Law will be successful, this latest statement is deeply regrettable. We urge the Ministry to reflect carefully on the widespread criticism of its position and to take this moment to reconsider the dire conditions faced by truck drivers—who have been driven to the brink by the oppressive practices of CU capital and the violent actions by police.

21 April 2026

KPTU Cargo Truckers Solidarity Division