Busan Port is very important in terms of its geographical, status role as a container harbour ranking sixth in the world. Nevertheless, it is evident that the seafarer welfare facilities at Busan Port are under the world level. The current policy for seafarer welfare has been promoted, spearheaded by the state, or administration, but its effective level is found to be inadequate; moreover, the seafarer welfare policy has not been handled as a priority one of a national policy. As a result, it is true that a standardized, sub-standard seafarer welfare policy has been promoted according to the state is will with regional characteristics and seafarers'' intention ignored.
On the contrary, in cases of the UK and Australia, they are achieving the effectiveness of the Port Welfare Committees and development suited for regional characteristics with the participation of seafarers, administrative system, shipping companies and committee experts, and such a trend gives us big implications.
It might be necessary for a nation''s seafarer welfare policy to be promoted in the direction as follows:
First, it is necessary to guarantee a seafarer''s democratic participation. The effect of seafarer welfare development finally returns to a seafarer, so it might be necessary to collect a seafarer''s intention to the maximum.
Second, it is necessary to make the most of regional characteristics. To enhance the practicability of a plan in the era when the resources possessed by regional harbours, and values are diverse, it is necessary to give respect to regional potential & characteristics.
Third, it is important to secure totality and long-term property. Restrictions on local governments'' finances and authority are liable to cause fragmentary implementation of a project, and the lack of a long-term view of a policy due to frequent replacement of a local government head. Such evils should be overcome with the participation of shipping companies, labor unions and related organizations in order to maintain suitability between projects, and seafarer welfare development should be promoted from a long-term view.
This paper aims to look into the problems of the seafarer welfare system in Korea at a level like this, and inquire into their improvement direction. In other words, this paper aims to look into the conflicting situation where the number of main employees, i.e. seafarers is continuously decreasing despite the continued development of the marine transport industry in Korea, and its high status at home and abroad by associating with the current seafarer welfare system, and to seek for the improvement direction thereof. To be concrete, this paper is intending to look into the method and direction for revitalization through legalization of the Port Welfare Committees.
Prior to this, this paper is intending to examine seafarer welfare through general consideration of seafarer welfare, look into the status of port welfare currently provided to seafarers at Busan Port through a survey, and to deduct implications through the above process.
Starting from the seafarer welfare initiated by the International Labour Organization, this paper is to consider the major contents of the Port Welfare Committees based on Maritime Labour Convention 2006. Furthermore, this paper is to consider the Port Welfare Committees by national laws through the Constitution and the Seafarers Act.
In addition, this paper considered the Port Welfare Committees by comparative law through the cases of the UK and Australia. More concretely, this paper is going to propose a scheme of adjusting the Seafarer Policy Committee to two sub-committees in legalizing the Port Welfare Committees in the domestic Seafarers Act.
This paper-conceived adjustment proposal is that the created subcommittee arranges the legal, institutional basis so that the Port Welfare Committees can work as a sub-committee, and share business related to the seafarer welfare. In addition, this paper proposes that the Seafarers Act should be revised for the existing Seafarer Policy Committee to be in charge of the matters related to education, and supply and demand of seafarers of seafarers except for seafarer welfare matters.