Jang Je-won also criticizes Yoon Hee-sook's 'Jeon Tae-il mention' as "arbitrary interpretation, political division"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] Jang Je-won, a member of the People Power Party, criticized fellow party member Yoon Hee-sook, calling it a "political division using Jeon Tae-il, the martyr."

On the 15th, Jang said on his Facebook, "Historical evaluation of the deceased is free, but summoning them into current political and policy debates and arguing over them dishonors their lives."

He continued, "Invoking Jeon Tae-il in the controversy over the 52-hour workweek is an extremely subjective or excessive speculative interpretation of the meaning of his death to justify one's ideological claims," expressing concern that "a major error could occur."

He also emphasized, "This is not the right approach for a politician, even if it might be for a scholar. Whether intended or not, using Jeon Tae-il inevitably leads to political division. It is very exhausting."

Yoon Hee-sook, a member of the People Power Party, is attending and questioning at the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee's audit of the Korea Customs Service held on the 14th./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

The controversial post by Yoon earlier stated on the 13th, "Postponing the full application of the 52-hour workweek to small and medium enterprises until after overcoming COVID-19 truly continues the spirit of Jeon Tae-il."

In the post, Yoon said, "Fifty years ago today, young Jeon Tae-il cried out 'Observe the Labor Standards Act' and died. As a good and upright young man, Jeon Tae-il must have been frustrated by the miserable working conditions despite the Labor Standards Act existing."

He added, "I believe the responsibility for that death lies mostly with those who made the laws and implemented policies at the time," emphasizing, "Small and medium enterprises, already struggling to survive COVID-19, are despairing because of the upcoming 52-hour workweek in just 50 days. Insisting only on ideological dogma or ignoring the unique characteristics of our soil while obsessing over transplanting advanced countries' systems does not help the vulnerable."

He further stressed, "It is hard to understand the government's behavior of indiscriminately, and sometimes selectively, distributing 20 trillion won in COVID disaster relief funds while pushing small and medium enterprises that are barely surviving to die faster."

In response, Kim Hyun-jung, labor spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized in a statement, "It is beyond anger to laughter how the martyr’s cry of 'Observe the Labor Standards Act' is interpreted as a call to postpone the introduction of the 52-hour workweek."

Cho Hye-min, spokesperson for the Justice Party, said in a statement, "The lowly perception that long working hours squeezing workers' blood is necessary for corporate management makes workers' labor rights and South Korea's economy backward. Do not disgrace the name of Jeon Tae-il," criticizing the remarks. Former Dongyang University professor Jin Jung-kwon also pointed out, "Why drag Jeon Tae-il into such talk? That party is hopeless."

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