ASEAN and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have appreciated Cambodia for initiating the portability of social security benefits for migrant workers in the region. The appreciation was made in the second consultation workshop, organised recently in Siem Reap province under the presidency of H.E. Kuoch Somean, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training. The establishment of the ASEAN Guidelines and the ASEAN Declaration on Portability of Social Security Benefits for Migrant Workers in ASEAN were initiated by Cambodia's Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training as Cambodia chaired the ASEAN Summit in 2022. Representatives from the ASEAN Committee on the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (ACMW), ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA), ASEAN Confederation of Employers (ACE), ASEAN Trade Union Council (ATUC), ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC), ILO, and Timor-Leste as an Observer Country, as well as representatives of employers, work ers, and civil society organisations of ASEAN member states, joined the workshop. The workshop reviewed the portability of social security benefits for migrant workers, agreed on the final draft of the ASEAN Guidelines for Consultation, and finally approved the draft by ACMW. It was crucial for the social security units of ASEAN member states to negotiate agreements on bilateral and multilateral social security in the future. Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse SEOUL, The first gold medal for the host South Korea at the Winter Youth Olympics came from short track speed skating Saturday. Joo Jae-hee, 17, won the men's 1,500-meter title at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung, some 160 kilometers east of Seoul, on Saturday, the first day of competition following the previous night's opening ceremony. Joo's teammate, Kim You-sung, won the bronze medal in the same race, with Zhang Xinzhe of China taking home the silver medal. Joo stayed in the back of the pack in the early going before making his charge on the final lap. He held off Zhang for the gold medal, after also winning the heats and semifinals earlier in the day. Though medals are awarded to winners and are tallied in real time online, there will be no official medal table compiled by the International Olympic Committee at the end of the Youth Olympic Games. At the youth event, there is a greater emphasis on friendship and cultural experience for teenage athletes, rather than on cutthroat competition. Source : Yonhap News Agency