Lee Jae-myung: "69-Hour Workweek, Desk-Only Politics... Will Prevent Labor Regress"

On the 2nd, Criticized Government Policy via Personal Facebook
"Rights Must Be Properly Guaranteed"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized the government's proposal to revise working hours to 'up to 69 hours per week' as a "danger of 'armchair politics' lacking on-site awareness."

On the morning of the 2nd, Lee stated on his Facebook, "How absurd must the policy of 'working 69 hours a week and then taking all your vacation at once' have seemed to young workers who know well what it means to be in a subordinate position," expressing his criticism.

Lee Jae-myung, Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Along with this, Lee shared an article reporting that a convenience store had hired part-time workers 169 times in one year, explaining, "What I try hardest not to lose while in politics is on-site awareness," and added, "Sometimes a short online post vividly reveals the reality of people's lives."

He continued, "In our society, there are workplaces where absurd situations exist, such as instructions coming in every 2 to 7 minutes without time to carry out tasks and sudden dismissal notices. This is an extreme case, and I know there are many good employers who strive to treat workers fairly. However, it remains an unchanging fact that young people seeking jobs for their livelihood are in a subordinate position compared to employers," he emphasized.

He further pointed out, "The minister in charge saying that young people these days have a strong sense of rights and are therefore fine must have sounded like a novel armchair theory," and added, "The problem is not 'a sense of rights' but properly guaranteeing those rights."

Finally, Lee said, "I will continuously strive to block labor reforms that regress workers' rights and to repeatedly create changes that the public can feel in their daily lives."

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