President Yun Seok-yeol's remarks on the way to work on the 24th are making waves.
The day before, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced a new labor policy, and the very next day, the president said, "It was not announced as an official position of the government."
I was confused about what the minister's announcement was if it wasn't an official position.
So I decided to check out what happened.
From the 23rd to the 24th. What exactly happened?
① At 11 a.m. on the 23rd,
Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik at the Sejong Government Complex announced the 'Working Start Reform Promotion Direction'.
From the press conference to the Q&A, everything lasted about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Here, Minister Lee said that the current 52-hour workweek would be applied flexibly and that "a plan to expand the calculation of overtime work from a weekly basis to a monthly basis will be considered."
② At 9:00 am on the 24th, President Yun Seok-yeol of the Yongsan Presidential Office
met with reporters on the way to work.
He answered the reporter's question that 'the labor community is opposed to this plan'.
President Yoon Seok-yeol said,
" The reason
I did not receive the report yesterday was that I
appeared in the media this morning and checked in the morning
. It has not been announced.
”
③ At 10:00 am on the 24th, phone call
reporters called the Ministry of Employment and Labor officials who participated in the policy announcement process.
I asked what happened, and the answer was 'I'm embarrassed'
over the handset .
Ministry of Employment and Labor official 1
"Everyone is saying what kind of English it is. We are also embarrassed."
Ministry of Employment and Labor Official 2
"(The previous day) we shared the briefing material with the Presidential Office."
④ At 11 a.m. on the 24th,
floor leader Kwon Seong-dong of the National Power of the National Assembly met with reporters after the current issue inspection meeting was over at the National Assembly.
When a reporter asked if he had sympathy with the party, he
said, 'I have received a report.'
He came up with a different answer than the president.
People's Power Floor Leader Kwon Seong-dong said
, "There was a discussion between the party and the government. Since we received a report, there have been times when we received a report rather than consultation."
⑤ At 2:40 p.m. on the 24th, the President's Office in Yongsan, Yongsan,
was divided into interpretations of the president's remarks, and the presidential office began to evolve.
An official from the presidential office said,
"
Yesterday's announcement by the Ministry of Employment and Labor was not to announce specific details, but rather to explain the direction and implementation plan
.
"
He added,
"The media reports came out as if the final government plan had been finalized, causing misunderstandings
. "
Enlarging an image
At the same time, an official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor said in a phone call with reporters, "The policy announcement was made the day before and it was a plan
.
"
Changing the 52-hour workweek management unit from weekly to monthly was 'one of the strongest examples'.
At the same time, he referred to the media reports as well as the explanations of officials in the presidential office.
“The final government plan has not been decided, but the reporters reported as if it had been finalized,” he said.
The reason the government said it was not an official position
'Flexibility of the 52-hour workweek' is not a topic that suddenly jumped out of the Ministry of Employment and Labor's announcement.
President Yoon Seok-yeol has been advocating for 'flexibilization of the 52-hour workweek' since the days of his candidacy.
In December of last year, he said, "We should make the 52-hour workweek flexible so that working conditions can be (determined) by agreement between labor and management."
After all, the announcement of the Minister of Employment and Labor is not so different from the will of the President.
So, why did the president say "this is not the official position of the government"?
The presidential office did not provide a clear explanation for this.
Presumably, the report that 'I can work up to 92 hours a week' seems to have had a major impact.
In fact, after the announcement of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, an article was published that <If the 52-hour workweek is flexible, you can work up to 92 hours>.
Well, although the assumption of 'maximum' is attached, it is not an impossible scenario at all according to the government announcement.
Enlarging an image
However, the Ministry of Employment and Labor distributed counter-materials to reporters, saying, "It is impossible to work 92 hours a week."
Even at 10:30 p.m., I picked up some articles.
An official also said, "I called the reporter directly and explained it, but there were parts that were not accepted."
It is true that he reacted sharply in many ways.
In summary, the government is trying to promote a labor reform policy for the first time, but
as soon as the word is spoken, attacks such as 'working up to 92 hours a week' and 'worried about long working hours' have come from all over the place. It is presumed that he even expressed 'no'
.
(I tried many things to understand.)
Of course, the President never directly mentioned '92 hours a week'.
However, can the president's remarks that he agrees with the direction of 'flexibilizing the 52-hour workweek' and "(the announcement the day before) not an official position of the government" be evaluated as consistent?
Labor policy, especially the working system, affects many people.
It affects not only me as I write this now, but also everyone who works.
It would not be a very desirable direction for such an important policy to be confused with a single word from the president.