AI era forces Korea’s labor, capital to negotiate new ‘survival pact’

“As artificial intelligence (AI) spreads from coding assistants to factory robots and hiring tools, experts say Korea’s familiar labor disputes over wages and bonuses are giving way to a more existential question: How labor and capital will share the costs and gains of this once-in-a-generation technological shift. The answer, according to experts interviewed by The Korea Times, is that Korea is not ready. AI has not triggered mass layoffs, but it is quietly sealing off entry-level opportunities, deepening inequality and exposing gaps in the country's legal and training systems. Without a credible safety net and a convincing transition plan, experts warn, blunt protectionism — already visible across many sectors — becomes the rational response to automation for most workers. “AI has become a survival question for both labor and capital,” said Ahn Jong-ki, a professor at the Korea University Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, noting the nation’s world-leading robot density and recent trials of physical AI on production lines. Korea already ranks among the most aut

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