Both Ruling and Opposition Parties Say "Serious Employment Crisis"... Ruling Party Calls for "Supplementary Budget Inclusion," Opposition Demands "Labor Law Issues Resolution"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Both ruling and opposition parties in the political sphere recognized the situation as a "serious employment crisis" and emphasized the need for countermeasures. The Democratic Party of Korea stated that the role of fiscal policy is important and pledged to discuss the job budget in depth, while the People Power Party urged that solving labor law issues is the fundamental solution.

Hong Ik-pyo, chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee, said at the party's policy coordination meeting on the 18th, "Looking at the recently released employment-related statistics and analysis data, the hardships brought by the COVID-19 pandemic are clearly revealed," adding, "The total number of employed persons in January decreased by 982,000 compared to the same month last year, and both the employment rate and economic activity participation rate fell by nearly 2%, indicating a serious employment crisis."

He continued, "In this unprecedented COVID-19 situation, it is time to do our best to protect and create jobs with an extraordinary attitude," and said, "To overcome the employment freeze, the role of fiscal policy is more important than ever. There needs to be an in-depth discussion on how to allocate the budget to support citizens driven into an employment crisis and to protect jobs."

He also stated, "In the process of preparing this supplementary budget, we will actively reflect employment maintenance budgets such as job stability funds. We will do our best to pass the five regulatory innovation bills to enhance private economic vitality so that new jobs can be created."

Kim Jong-in, chairman of the People Power Party's Emergency Committee, also said at the emergency committee meeting on the same day, "Recently, our country's employment problem is showing a serious pattern," adding, "The presidential office even created a job dashboard and said they would check jobs, but looking at the employment trend, the situation is worsening and is more difficult than during the IMF crisis."

He added, "The government needs to calmly evaluate why jobs are not increasing but rather decreasing even when investing in the manufacturing sector."

Chairman Kim had previously stated in October last year, "I request the government and ruling party to attempt to revise labor-management relations and labor laws together."

On this day as well, Chairman Kim said, "To establish competitiveness in manufacturing related to the 4th industrial revolution, it is impossible without solving the fundamental chronic labor law issues in our country," and urged, "I recommend to the government and ruling party: since you have 180 seats, please use this power to bring about fundamental changes and conduct an in-depth review of labor issues."

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