[Lee·Yoon Pledge Comparison Analysis] 'Support for 4-Day Workweek' vs '52 Hours per Week Is Too Much'

Worker Welfare vs Employment Flexibility... Fundamentally Different Philosophies

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee's 'Pro-Labor Drive' Including Public Institution Labor Director System

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's 20th presidential election candidate, wiping away tears while talking with the bereaved family after visiting the site where a cleaning worker died at the Seoul National University dormitory in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, on July 11. (Photo by Lee Jae-myung Camp)

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, shows increased interest in improving workers' rights, including partial support for the introduction of a '4-day workweek.' He plans to expand a negative regulation system (allowing all except some prohibited items) rather than an all-out deregulation approach, aiming to 'rationalize' regulations. At the same time, he emphasizes necessary regulations to protect local businesses and improve the structure of small and medium enterprises, signaling his intention to implement the philosophy of 'Eokgangbuyak' (suppressing the strong and helping the weak). He also announced plans to push for legislative amendments mandating the introduction of the 'labor director system' in public institutions and declared that IT platform companies will be required to disclose various fees charged to tenant businesses, which exemplifies his labor and economic views.

Candidate Lee pledged policies including the 4-day workweek, minimum wage increases, strengthened industrial accident compensation such as recognizing fetal industrial accidents for pregnant workers, and universal sickness benefits. Notably, he emphasized accelerating the implementation of the public institution labor director system. Given that the Moon Jae-in administration strengthened the strike rights of unemployed and dismissed union members (so-called non-working union members) through amendments to the Trade Union Act, there are concerns that if the Lee Jae-myung administration pushes the 'labor director system drive,' it could significantly impact corporate management.

On the 28th of last month, Lee referred to the card fees, sales commissions, and advertising costs that tenant companies pay to big tech firms known as 'Ne-Ka-Ra-Ku-Bae' (Naver, Kakao, Line, Coupang, Baedal Minjok) as 'online rent' and announced plans to disclose them in detail like credit card statements. Additionally, while serving as governor of Gyeonggi Province, Lee supported 2,000 delivery workers in the province in March by covering about 12,000 KRW per month of their industrial accident insurance premiums (90% of the self-pay portion). He also emphasized that platform workers, delivery drivers, and other special employment types (so-called 'teukgo') remain in legal blind spots.

Yoon's 'Structural Reform' to Help Startups Grow into Large Corporations

Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's candidate for the 20th presidential election, visited Clever, an excellent small and medium-sized enterprise in Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, on the afternoon of the 30th of last month to inspect secondary battery manufacturing equipment. (Photo by Yonhap News)

Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, focuses his corporate policy on 'structural reform' that reduces the burden of starting a business and fosters self-sustainability for small enterprises. He plans to promote labor time flexibility by operating the 52-hour workweek system flexibly on a weekly, 3-month, and 6-month basis, while maintaining the stance that the minimum wage should not be raised abruptly.

His approach also relies on market activation through deregulation. During a vision presentation in August as a primary candidate, Yoon emphasized, "To create good jobs, we will support corporate technological innovation and institutional reform," adding, "We will establish a dedicated regulatory impact analysis organization to review regulations that hinder exports and job creation, especially youth employment, from a zero-base perspective."

Yoon trusts a growth structure based on long-term economic revival through employment market activation via deregulation. His corporate philosophy is to create a 'playing field' where individuals can freely start and grow companies, and to thoroughly eradicate regulations that hinder management.

Regarding workers' rights improvement, he plans to focus more on reducing corporate management burdens rather than strengthening employment welfare. He has described the minimum wage system and the 52-hour workweek as 'desk administration.' On the 2nd, Yoon released a statement titled "We will strive for higher wages and fewer working hours," arguing, "Companies unable to implement the 52-hour workweek have been struggling, and workers whose wages were cut due to reduced working hours have understandably complained, 'Who is this system for?'" He added, "Desk administration that ignores the field harms both companies and workers," and stated, "The 52-hour workweek should not be rigidly applied on a weekly basis but flexibly operated on 3-month or 6-month units to better reflect the realities faced by companies and workers."