Taking Notes on Participants' Remarks in His Notebook
"Working Hours Are Excessively Long... They Must Be Reduced"
Lee Jaemyung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, attended a meeting with office workers on April 30 as his first official event following the launch of the Democratic Party's Central Election Committee.
On this day, Lee appeared at the meeting wearing a gray suit without a necktie. He was also seen taking notes himself in a notebook as he listened to the participants' remarks.
Lee stated, "In our country, salaries do rise nominally, but in many cases, they do not keep up with the inflation rate." He continued, "Salaried workers are often referred to as having 'glass wallets' because when nominal wages increase, the taxable base rises, which in turn raises the tax rate. As a result, actual take-home pay does not increase, but taxes do." He added, "Retirement pensions also rarely achieve returns that match inflation, but if we could raise them to the level of a real pension, and continue such efforts, things might improve."
Lee also said, "The total working hours in Korea are excessively long. We need to reduce them." He continued, "The era when longer working hours meant higher productivity is over." He added, "In the past, during the era of rapid economic growth, simply getting a job meant guaranteed employment until retirement, but now things have changed and jobs have become very unstable." He said, "I feel sorry for having lived in a much better era compared to the current generation."
After the event, Lee cited 'housing issues' as the topic that resonated with him the most. He said, "One participant mentioned that to get a job in Seoul, you have to pay at least 500,000 to 600,000 won per month in rent, making life difficult. Although it is not easy to solve the fundamental problem of the significant distance between housing and workplaces, it is an issue that requires a great deal of attention."
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