ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo speaks to the Hankyoreh at Lotte Hotel Seoul on May 22, 2026. (Park Jong-shik/Hankyoreh)
Labor has been one of the areas most directly impacted by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. This is why the International Labour Organization, which represents the highest authority for global labor standards, sees responding to AI as an urgent priority.ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo is scheduled to present a report entitled “A Moment of Choice: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Decent Work” at the International Labour Conference opening on June 1. The annual report by the ILO director-general is viewed as a representative policy document sharing an assessment of the global labor and economic order during a given period and suggesting what directions international norms should be taken in.Houngbo arrived in Korea on the evening of May 20 to attend a ceremony unveiling Seoul’s plan to establish a “Global AI Hub” in the country. His three-day schedule was a whirlwind of meetings with figures including President Lee Jae Myung, Korea Enterprises Federation Chairperson Sohn Kyung-shik, and Samsung Electronics labor and management representatives.The main topics of conversation were questions of profit distribution and employment changes amid advancements in AI technology.During an exclusive interview with the Hankyoreh at the Lotte Hotel Seoul in the Korean capital’s Jung District on May 22, Houngbo expressed his profound support for the theme of the Hankyoreh Human and Digital Forum, which marks its fifth edition this year by focusing on “The Future of Work and Learning in the AI Era.”He stressed that AI was not “against the workers” but “globally positive” for them.“We really need to see how it benefits societies globally, [and] if it is again there just to go and benefit the 1 percent of society,” he said.He emphasized that the organization’s aim was not to delay change but to make it fairer.
