[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] President Yoon Suk-yeol said on the 24th regarding the proposal to reform the 52-hour workweek system, "It has not yet been announced as the government's official position."
President Yoon stated this on his way to the Yongsan Presidential Office, saying, "I did not receive the report yesterday, but it appeared in the media this morning, so I checked."
He added, "It was not announced by the Ministry of Labor, but Deputy Prime Minister Choo Kyung-ho probably asked the Ministry of Labor to review labor market flexibility based on advice from private research groups or similar experts."
On the previous day, Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik held a briefing at the Sejong Government Complex on the 'Direction for Labor Market Reform,' announcing reform plans including improvements to the working hours system involving the reorganization of extended work management units and the wage system reform that includes disclosure of wage information by job.
Minister Lee pointed out, "Improving the working hours system and wage system, which are core elements of the labor market and affect the lives of the majority of the people, is a long-standing and ongoing task. Although the maximum weekly working hours were sharply reduced from 68 hours to 52 hours, the basic system method has been maintained, failing to respond to the diverse demands in the field."
The reorganization of the extended work unit announced by Minister Lee the previous day aims to maintain the basic framework of the 52-hour workweek system while increasing the current extended work unit limited to 1 week (12 hours) to 4 weeks (48 hours), allowing flexible response to the rapidly changing labor environment.
However, the labor sector is concerned that intensive extended work may deteriorate workers' health rights.
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