Ahn Cheol-soo: "Serious Accident Punishment Act is a law that calls an ambulance without a fence and waits for people to die"

Government and Prime Contractor Consult to Establish Safety Support Measures for Subcontractors
Flexible 52-Hour Workweek and Industry-Specific Exceptions Allowed
New Regulatory Innovation Department Established for Startup Regulation Reform

Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, is shaking hands with Kim Ki-moon, the chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, after a commemorative photo session at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul on the 4th.
Photo by Korea Federation of SMEs

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Min-jae] Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, criticized the Serious Accidents Punishment Act as “a law that calls an ambulance and waits for people to die,” saying it fails to consider the realities of the industrial sector.

On the 4th, Ahn made these remarks at the ‘Small and Medium Enterprise Future Vision Presentation’ held at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul. He said, “The Serious Accidents Punishment Act is a bill that, instead of installing fences to protect workers working on cliffs, does not put up fences and calls an ambulance to wait for people to die.”

This criticism stems from the fact that the law does not consider the fundamental cause of accidents occurring in small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, where prime contractors pressure subcontractors, leaving insufficient funds for safety investments.

He stated, “Both the government and prime contractors should take responsibility and support subcontractors so they can invest in safety,” adding, “It is right to find ways like this and then realize the law once the accident rate decreases.”

Ahn also criticized the rigidity of the 52-hour workweek system. He said, “In research institutes and software companies, it is customary to work intensively and then take one or two months off with paid leave,” and argued, “The 52-hour workweek system needs more flexibility to reflect this reality and should allow exceptions by industry.”

Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, is taking a commemorative photo with Kim Ki-moon, president of the Korea Federation of SMEs, heads of small and medium-sized enterprise organizations, representatives of SMEs and small business owners by industry, and venture and startup officials.
[Photo by Korea Federation of SMEs]

He also proposed establishing a dedicated regulatory innovation department to reform regulations that hinder startups. Ahn said, “Among the world’s top 100 startups, 40 cannot operate in our country due to regulations,” and added, “I will create a dedicated regulatory innovation department under the Prime Minister’s Office to attempt new regulatory reforms.”

Ahn presented specific goals to achieve the development of the startup ecosystem. He said, “If elected president, I will ensure that 15 new unicorn companies emerge annually during my term, totaling 60.” He also declared, “The proportion of companies with 10 or more employees growing at over 20% annually will increase to 5%, and those with mid-to-high growth over 10% will rise to about 12%.”

In response to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, he pledged to support more than 1 trillion won over five years to foster new growth engines for SMEs, improve conditions for industry-academia-research cooperation by supporting technology commercialization at universities and public research institutes, and build infrastructure for such collaboration.

Meanwhile, about 100 people attended the presentation, including representatives of SMEs and small business owners by industry, venture and startup officials, and youth preparing for employment. The SME sector submitted key requests to Ahn, including ▲strengthening digital capabilities of SMEs ▲flexibilization of the 52-hour workweek ▲supplementing the Serious Accidents Punishment Act ▲regulatory easing for new industry development ▲support for SME re-challenge, along with a policy proposal document for SMEs.

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