President Lee Jaemyung Urges Institutional Improvements to Prevent Human Rights Violations Against Migrant Workers and Foreigners

President Lee Jaemyung Chairs Cabinet Meeting on August 12
"Outsourcing Dangerous Work Is Never Desirable"

Yonhap News

On August 12, President Lee Jaemyung stated, "Please take thorough measures to ensure that unjust discrimination or human rights violations against migrant workers, foreigners, and other socially vulnerable groups do not recur." He added, "If necessary, I urge you to prepare institutional improvements as well."

President Lee gave these instructions to the relevant authorities while presiding over a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan on this day. He remarked, "Recently, there have been repeated incidents of hatred, discrimination, and violence, particularly against foreigners, in certain parts of our society." He pointed out, "Not long ago, there was a hate rally in front of the Chinese diplomatic mission in Daerim-dong, where insults and violence-hardly justifiable as freedom of expression-were rampant."

President Lee continued, "I hope we consider how the Republic of Korea would be perceived if such scenes were witnessed in other countries." He criticized, "These actions are completely unbefitting of Korea's status as a model democracy that respects diversity and inclusiveness." He further emphasized, "At a time when the world is closely watching and enthusiastic about K-culture, it is clear that such incidents will negatively affect both our national interests and reputation."

Meanwhile, President Lee also continued to address the issue of workplace accident fatalities on this day. He stressed, "I keep emphasizing this, but what could be more important than human life?" He added, "A workplace people go to in order to make a living must never become a place of death."

Yonhap News

President Lee commented, "There tends to be a pattern of only checking whether safety measures were in place or regulations were followed after an accident occurs." He analyzed, "Shouldn't we focus on prevention in advance?" Regarding the failure to properly implement safety measures, he stated, "If we look at the root cause, it comes down to money. The fundamental problem is a misguided culture that values money more than human life."

He also said, "We need to make it so that people realize neglecting safety measures just to save costs is foolish." He suggested, "By routinely inspecting industrial sites and strictly sanctioning any failure to implement necessary safety measures, we can address this issue."

In particular, regarding construction sites where industrial accidents are frequent, President Lee analyzed, "The causes are subcontracting and re-subcontracting." He explained, "As subcontracting is repeated, the actual construction costs are reduced, and eventually, the budget can drop to nearly half of the original amount, making it impossible to implement safety measures."

He further added, "It is never desirable to outsource or subcontract dangerous work."