Meeting Candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, "Please Improve the Law on Imprisoning SME Representatives" (Comprehensive)

Candidate Ahn Holds Vision Presentation for SMEs
SME Representatives Deliver Current Issues and Policy Proposals
Appeals for 52-Hour Workweek Relaxation and Regulatory Reform

"Industrial accidents are difficult to clearly establish causal relationships, and even if business owners comply with their obligations and fulfill their responsibilities, it is practically difficult to prevent industrial accident occurrences."

Kim Seung-gi, Executive Vice President of the Korea Specialty Contractors Association, said this on the 4th at the Small and Medium Business Central Association in Yeouido, Seoul, during the presentation of Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, on the vision for small and medium enterprises.

Vice President Kim emphasized, "The Serious Accident Punishment Act is even called 'a law that sends small and medium enterprise representatives to prison,'" adding, "The punishment regulations for business owners should be relaxed, and provisions for exemption should be established in cases without intent or gross negligence."

In response, candidate Ahn criticized the Serious Accident Punishment Act by analogy, saying, "It is like not installing fences to keep people safe while working on a cliff, but rather calling an ambulance and waiting for people to die."

He continued, "The government and the primary contractors, as two main parties, should take responsibility and support subcontractors to invest in safety," adding, "It is right to find such methods and then realize the law if the accident rate decreases."

About 100 people attended the presentation, including Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Small and Medium Business Central Association, heads of small and medium enterprise organizations, representatives of small and medium enterprises and small business owners by industry, venture and startup representatives, and youth preparing for employment.

Small and medium enterprise owners submitted key issues and a policy proposal document to candidate Ahn, including △strengthening digital capabilities of small and medium enterprises △flexibilization of the 52-hour workweek △supplementing the Serious Accident Punishment Act △regulatory relaxation for fostering new industries △support for small and medium enterprise re-challenge.

Kang Sam-kwon, Chairman of the Korea Venture Business Association, requested, "It is necessary to improve regulations at a speed suitable for the Fourth Industrial Revolution era and resolve conflicts with vested interest groups occurring in various fields," adding, "Please improve the system so that we can win in global innovation competition and carry out business stably."

Yoo Hee-sook, Chairwoman of the Korea Re-challenge Small and Medium Enterprise Association, emphasized, "A safety net policy that allows re-starting even after failure is what makes entrepreneurship most active," and added, "A proactive re-challenge support fund needs to be established."

Kim Moon-sik, Director of the Korea Gas Station Operators Cooperative, reported the situation on the ground, saying, "There is a shortage of workers in small and medium enterprises, and with the implementation of the 52-hour workweek, there are even laughable cases of swapping employees between companies in the same industry."

He said, "Flexible system operation is urgently needed, such as allowing the current 12-hour limit on extended work hours to be used on a monthly basis with labor-management agreement."

Chairman Kim urged resolving the polarization between large and small-medium enterprises. He said, "To realize the 'society rooted in justice and fairness' emphasized by candidate Ahn, resolving polarization is a priority," adding, "The government and political circles should take the lead in establishing the value of fairness."

He continued, "The digital transformation of small and medium enterprises scores only 41 out of 100," and expressed hope that "small and medium enterprise policy pledges will be linked to the core national agenda of the next government, leading to a great transition to an 'era of small and medium enterprise growth.'"

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