Sung Il-jong: "Opposing Labor Law Revision While Talking About 'Economic Reform'... Urge Ruling Party to Cooperate on Labor Reform"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Lim Chun-han] Seong Il-jong, the emergency committee member of the People Power Party, fiercely criticized the ruling party, saying, "Is the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (PCC) more urgent, or are economic and labor reforms more urgent?" and urged them to cooperate on labor reform.

At the People Power Party emergency committee meeting on the morning of the 8th, Committee Member Seong said, "(The Democratic Party) is pushing for the establishment of the PCC so urgently, but why are they not taking the lead on labor reform?"

He pointed out, "Is the PCC more urgent, or are economic and labor reforms more urgent?" and added, "Floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon opposed our party chairman Kim Jong-in's opinion on labor law amendments and talked about 'economic reform.' People who don't even know the priority of reforms are mocking the public."

Committee Member Seong criticized, "(Prosecutor) reform, reform, but is this really reform? Is this truly for the people?" and said, "The 'prosecutor reform' that this administration talked about was about cutting prosecutors who are not on their side, and under the pretext of 'clearing deep-rooted evils,' imprisoning those who are not on their side."

He emphasized, "True reform should be reform for the common people, labor reform, and economic reform," and added, "Our People Power Party will take the lead in reforms targeting conglomerates including chaebols. Economic reforms such as preventing preferential treatment through amendments to the Fair Trade Act have been promoted by the People Power Party since the 20th National Assembly."

Committee Member Seong said, "Who were the ones opposing so many reform tasks during the IMF (foreign exchange crisis)?" and added, "People who don't even know the order of reforms are making wild swings. The Democratic Party should cooperate on labor reform."

Emergency Committee Member Kim Jae-seop also pointed out, "Labor reform is absolutely necessary. The Democratic Party should not run away," and said, "Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon and ruling party lawmakers are refusing labor reform under the excuse that labor safety in our society is weak, but South Korea's labor rigidity is actually very high globally."

He said, "Statistics show this, and young people struggling to find jobs feel it," and added, "Labor reform is needed not to protect the vested interests' labor stability but to secure stability for all workers, including young people."

Committee Member Kim emphasized, "The Green New Deal and the 4th Industrial Revolution era are not created automatically but must start with labor reform," and said, "I hope the government and ruling party do not calculate this politically for their own gain."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.