Yoon Seok-yeol: "The 52-hour workweek has failed... People should be able to work 120 hours and rest"
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Shim Sang-jung, a member of the Justice Party, criticized on the 20th that former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who declared his presidential bid and said, "Even if I work 120 hours a week, I should be able to work hard and then rest as much as I want," seems to be trying to become a president who kills people.
On the same day, Shim posted on her Facebook, saying, "If you work 120 hours a week, 24 hours a day for five days, people will die. Does this even make sense?"
She pointed out, "Citizens are so outraged that they are commenting, 'You should experience it yourself first.' Even in the era of Jeon Tae-il, who had to operate a sewing machine for 16 hours a day, it was absurd for a politician to mention 120 hours of labor."
Earlier, former Prosecutor General Yoon said in an interview with a media outlet the day before that the Moon Jae-in administration's 52-hour workweek policy was a "failed policy," stating, "The current government claimed that the 52-hour workweek would create jobs, but statistics show that the job growth rate is only 0.1%."
Yoon continued, "When I met startup youths, they complained that exceptions should be made to the 52-hour workweek so that workers can agree on or choose conditions," and argued, "To develop a single game, you need to work hard for 120 hours a week, not 52 hours, and then be able to rest as much as you want afterward."
In response, Shim said, "No matter how much the essence of a company is profit-seeking, it cannot come before human life. That is why Article 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea states, 'The standards of working conditions shall be prescribed by law to guarantee human dignity,'" emphasizing, "The role of the state is to protect the lives and dignity of working citizens from the infinite greed of companies."
She also pointed out that South Korea has relatively long working hours among OECD countries. Shim said, "South Korea is a society known for overwork. It ranks second in the OECD member countries for the longest working hours after Mexico," and criticized, "Our country's annual working hours are 1,967 hours, which is 1.5 times that of Germany, where people work 1,386 hours annually."
She added, "We don't have to look far. Can't you hear the sighs of citizens mourning the overwork deaths of cleaning workers at Seoul National University even now?"
Furthermore, she said, "Above all, South Korea is a '40-hour workweek' country. This was legally established in 2003, and over the past 18 years, this law has been steadily undermined. Now, it is being misrepresented as if the 52-hour workweek is the standard," and criticized, "However, conservative presidential candidates in South Korea have all risen up, claiming even the 52-hour workweek is a luxury. This is truly disheartening."
Finally, Shim emphasized, "Growth-first and market-omnipotence ideologies have long overwhelmed South Korean society. Our politics have avoided the responsibility to protect the lives and dignity of the people by saying there is no government that can beat the market," adding, "Being the 10th largest GDP and having a per capita income of 30,000 dollars does not guarantee the happiness of the people. Is South Korea really an advanced country? Are our citizens truly treated as citizens of an advanced country? Presidential candidates should first provide answers to these questions."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
