Lee Jae Myung Visits Pangyo IT Industry: "We Must Change Oppressive Labor Culture"

"Calling Social Enterprises 'Socialist' Is Truly Ignorant"

Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, stated on the 12th regarding labor issues in the IT industry, "If we truly want to create creative results that lead the world, we must change the oppressive labor culture."

Lee Jae Myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is waving to supporters at the Central Election Committee launch ceremony and first campaign rally held on the 12th at Cheonggye Square in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun Min

At around noon on this day, Lee held a roundtable discussion with IT developers and office workers in their 20s and 30s during the 'K-Innovation' brown bag meeting held in Pangyo, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

Lee Yoon Sun said, "I found your labor policy announcement interesting. Among them, I was particularly impressed by your proposal for employers to record and measure employees' actual working hours," and added, "If not only working hours but also performance management and a fair compensation system are based on objective data, I expect that people will be able to work in a fairer environment and that trust will be built between labor and management."

Lee Jae Myung responded, "Labor culture is a matter of culture. In the past, labor output could be measured materially, but nowadays the quality of labor has changed, making quantitative measurement impossible," and continued, "I doubt whether it is possible to achieve great results in this era of advanced science by suppressing people physically rather than fostering spontaneity. I believe that guaranteeing spontaneity is what will actually give companies global competitiveness."

Cho Young Kyu said, "There are many technology startups overseas. It seems that many current government support programs focus on companies that are good at planning and presenting rather than those with strong development skills," and added, "Companies specialized in development are not actually in a position to be evaluated for startup support in Korea."

Lee Jae Myung said, "We are now planning to greatly expand support for startups and entrepreneurship," and continued, "Currently, the range of opportunities is so narrow that people feel excluded because of the selection process. I will make sure that no one feels such unfairness."

Lee Jae Myung also stated, "Some people think that social enterprises are socialist, but that is truly ignorant and demagogic," and added, "Making money is capitalist and market-oriented, but thinking that anything for everyone is somehow impure is a mindset we must truly abandon."