Democrats: "Law Mandating Work Suspension During Heatwaves to Pass National Assembly in July"

Park Kwang-on, Democratic Party Floor Leader
Proposes Bipartisan Consultative Group on Industrial Safety and Health Act

The Democratic Party of Korea has decided to pass a bill mandating the suspension of work for laborers during heatwaves at the July extraordinary session of the National Assembly.

Park Kwang-on, the floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at the party's strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 4th, "In the first quarter of this year alone, 128 workers died, which is a preventable social death," adding, "The National Assembly will strive to pass the Industrial Safety and Health Act, which mandates work suspension during heatwaves exceeding the standard, within July."

Park Kwang-on, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 4th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Park also stated, "It is necessary for the National Assembly to cooperate across party lines to resolve this issue," and proposed, "We will quickly consult by forming a Labor and Environment Committee or a separate bipartisan consultative body."

Furthermore, Park mentioned a recent case of a mart employee who died while working in the heatwave, saying, "The Ministry of Labor currently recommends suspending work when the apparent temperature exceeds 35 degrees Celsius unless unavoidable, but this is only a recommendation. The Ministry must thoroughly supervise workplaces, establish heatwave countermeasures, and report to the National Assembly."

Earlier, on the 19th of last month, a man in his 30s working at Costco Gyeonggi Hanam branch collapsed and died while organizing shopping carts. At that time, Hanam City issued a heatwave advisory as the daytime high temperature reached 33 degrees Celsius. The parking lot where Mr. A worked was known to have a poor cooling system and walls that were open, exposing workers directly to external heat.

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