"The Road to an Overwork Society"... Yoon Seok-yeol's Remarks on Abolishing the 52-Hour Workweek Face Daily Backlash

청 "There was social consensus... There are also supplementary measures"
Yoon "Requesting flexibility according to industry"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] On the 30th of last month, criticism from the political sphere continued over Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, and his remarks on 'abolishing the 52-hour workweek system.' In response, Candidate Yoon reiterated the need to allow flexible adjustment of working hours, emphasizing the difficulties faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other workplaces.

Park Soo-hyun, the Blue House Chief of Public Communication, appeared on a YouTube broadcast on the 1st and countered Yoon's remarks by saying, "The 52-hour workweek system is about balancing both work and people's lives," adding, "There was a social consensus, and we must move forward." He further stated, "If there are issues, they can be supplemented. However, the current 52-hour workweek system includes supplementary measures such as flexible working hours."

Park Yong-jin, co-chairman of the Democratic Party's joint election countermeasures committee, directly criticized Yoon's remarks on Facebook the same day, saying, "He has been making ignorant anti-labor remarks for two consecutive days." Park said, "If Candidate Yoon takes power, the door to an overwork society will open," and criticized, "If you want to support the difficulties of SMEs, please speak with the health and livelihood stability of workers in mind."

Lee Yeon-gi, public relations special advisor to former Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon, also stated that day, "The average annual working hours of Koreans in 2020 was 1,908 hours, significantly exceeding the OECD average of 1,687 hours," adding, "If even the 52-hour standard is abolished, there is no doubt that the lives of the people will become more difficult. Our Kim Dong-yeon campaign firmly opposes the 'abolition of the 52-hour workweek system.'"

Earlier, Candidate Yoon visited a secondary battery company in Cheongju, Chungbuk, and said, "The minimum wage system and the 52-hour workweek are very unrealistic and cause many difficulties in business operations, especially in SMEs where creative work is needed rather than simple functional jobs," adding, "I have heard well that SMEs are struggling due to such theoretical discussions, and I will work to abolish all unrealistic systems."

In July, Candidate Yoon also faced backlash for his '120-hour work' remarks, but his basic stance that "working hours should be extendable depending on the industry" remained unchanged.

As controversy arose, Candidate Yoon, after visiting the Independence Hall in Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, explained to reporters, "Many people say that the minimum wage system and the 52-hour workweek cause significant obstacles to operating small and medium-sized enterprises," adding, "I am saying that even if the 52-hour workweek is maintained depending on the industry, whether for 3 months, 1 month, or 6 months, it should be flexible on average."