Chairman Kim Ji-hyung of the Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC), visited the Korean Financial Industry Union (KFIU) on Friday, March 13, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., where he held a meeting with the union’s leadership.

The KFIU was originally established in 1987 as the Federation of Office and Financial Workers and transitioned into an industrial union in 2011. As of the end of 2025, it represents approximately 70,000 members and is organized into seven sectoral divisions and nine regional branches. Recently, the union has raised key agendas related to the public nature of financial policy and labor issues arising from industrial transformation.

The meeting was arranged to gather opinions on labor-management-government relations and social dialogue, as well as to hear a broad range of issues facing the financial sector amid complex changes such as AI and digital transformation, and structural shifts in the financial industry.

Lee Jae-jin, President of the KFIU, stated, “The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is bringing significant changes to jobs, working conditions, and income distribution structures across office and financial work, including call centers, customer service, and research.” He emphasized, “There is an urgent need for social dialogue to ensure that the burden of technological change is not unilaterally placed on workers, addressing issues such as job transition, education and training, working hours, wage systems, and fair distribution of performance outcomes.” He added that “now is the time for labor, management, and government to open a responsible forum to prepare for the future of work in the AI era.”

Chair Kim noted, “The office and financial sector is a key industry that supports national financial services and the broader economy. It is therefore necessary to carefully and balancedly assess the impact of AI and digital transformation on employment and working methods.” He added, “Issues such as job security and the public nature of finance should be discussed within an official framework of dialogue among stakeholders.”

He further stated, “We will continue to listen closely to the agendas of the financial industry union and the voices of workers in the field, while gradually expanding communication starting from the sectoral and industrial levels.”

Meanwhile, the ESLC is scheduled to hold a meeting with the National Union of Media Workers on Tuesday, March 24, and plans to continue field-oriented social dialogue through ongoing engagements with affiliated organizations of the two major labor confederations.