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| President Yoon Suk-yeol's press conference is broadcast live on televisions at a vegetable store in a traditional market in Seoul, Wednesday. The economy was one of the topics he addressed as he marked his first 100 days in office. Yonhap |
By Yi Whan-woo
President Yoon Suk-yeol said Wednesday he will revamp Korea's labor law to cope with rapid changes in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, stressing that such reforms are also critical in meeting global standards as well as a market-driven economy pursued by his government.
"The course of the industry is rapidly changing while the labor law can be said to be stuck in the era of the Second Industrial Revolution," Yoon said during a press conference to mark the 100th day since his inauguration in May. "Our nation will lose competitiveness in the labor sector if it does not cope with the industry's demand in a flexible manner, and therefore, I think the labor law should be changed in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution."
Yoon admitted his vision for labor reform could trigger conflict in the society, noting a similar case was witnessed in Germany when the Social Democratic Party of Germany was in power.
He still said the German labor reform turned out to be "meaningful" for the nation in the long term.
"Taking such a historical fact into account, I will approach the related issues as something to be dealt with together among the government, parliament and the civil society," he added.
He promised not to overlook deepening polarization in the labor market, such as between regular and irregular workers and conglomerates and smaller companies, saying, "Fair reward for a person's toil is an issue that we must improve."
Concerning the latest strikes said to be led by hardline unionists at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and HiteJinro, the president said such strikes should "not cross the line."
"Disrespecting the labor law will lead nowhere when the conflict between management and laborers occurs and that the involved parties should try to settle the conflict by observing the law," he said.
In his own assessment during the first 100 days in office, he said the government is changing the tax system to boost investment and job creation driven by the private sector.
He said his market-driven economic vision is in line with the global standard and that the so-called income-led growth policy pursued by the previous Moon Jae-in admonition has been scrapped.
Moon's economic policy was viewed by conservatives as anti-free market.
"Full-fledged support for the private sector toward innovation is what the government pursues, and the focus of the economic policy has been shifted correspondingly," Yoon said.
He underlined that easing and lifting regulations that hamper growth will be "carried out in a more bold manner," pointing out the government has dealt with more than 1,400 regulations that are deemed business obstacles.
Of the 1,400, relevant ministries are working to revise 703 while completing overhaul of another 140.
