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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Ruling Party and Government to Introduce Mega-Special-Zone Bill This Month, Including Debate Over 52-Hour Workweek Exceptions

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • South Korea’s government and Democratic Party plan to introduce a Mega Special Zone bill in September and seek passage during the current parliamentary session.
  • A government draft includes a “white-collar exemption” for the 52-hour weekly work limit covering highly paid managers and research and development workers.
  • Labor groups oppose the proposed labor exemptions, and lawmakers within the Democratic Party have called for further consultation.

A bill designed to support mega-projects such as the Honam semiconductor cluster is heading toward the National Assembly this month, but its proposed labor provisions are already drawing opposition.

The government and the Democratic Party agreed on Sept. 4 to introduce the Mega Special Zone Act in September and work for passage before the end of the year. The party’s Mega Projects and Regional Growth Support Special Committee reviewed the government’s draft at a meeting with officials.

We believe it is necessary to complete the bill’s introduction in September and process it during this regular session.

· Jang Cheol-min and Park Kyung-miParty officials speaking after the government-party meeting about the legislative timetable.

The draft includes a “white-collar exemption” for the 52-hour weekly work limit affecting highly paid managers and research and development workers. Committee secretary Jang Cheol-min said the phrase “52-hour system exception” did not appear as such in the text, but that provisions reflecting a Korean version of the white-collar exemption had been drafted. Democratic Party spokesperson Park Kyung-mi said the party would consult labor groups and gather views from different sectors.

The phrase ‘52-hour system exception’ is not codified in the text. The content of a white-collar exemption has been codified, and the government is considering how to formulate a Korean version of it in legal provisions.

· Jang Cheol-minExplaining the draft’s proposed treatment of exceptions to the weekly work-hour limit.

Jang said the bill would likely be introduced through a lawmaker’s initiative in the National Assembly’s relevant committee rather than as a party-line bill. He said the legislation contained too many provisions to be fully complete from the outset and should be refined through debate.

Labor groups oppose exceptions to the weekly work-hour ceiling and proposed easing of restrictions under the Fixed-Term and Part-Time Workers Act. There is also disagreement inside the Democratic Party. Kwon Chil-seung, a senior committee official, acknowledged those concerns and said a process of social compromise was needed to balance regulatory reform aimed at corporate competitiveness with protection of workers’ rights.

We are well aware that there are various views within the party regarding preferential treatment related to labor, and that concerns have also been raised by labor groups.

· Kwon Chil-seungOpening remarks at the committee meeting, acknowledging opposition to the labor provisions.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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