"Are High Earners Not Human?": Deliberations Deepen Over 52-Hour Workweek Exceptions

[Anchor]

The "Super-Regional Special Zone Act," a bill designed to support initiatives such as the South Jeolla-Gwangju semiconductor cluster, has unusually been introduced in the form of two separate bills. This is due to a special provision that exempts certain workers from the 52-hour workweek cap. The Minister of Employment and Labor also faced concentrated questioning regarding this matter at the National Assembly.

Kim Hye-min reports.

[Reporter]

The main topic of discussion on the final day of the parliamentary audit by the Climate, Energy, Environment, and Labor Committee was whether to apply exceptions to the 52-hour workweek regulation within mega special zones.

[Lee Jong-bae / People Power Party Lawmaker: The government should come up with a unified proposal and push it forward, but because opinions differ, no unified stance is emerging.]

On October 20, the ruling party introduced two bills: one containing a "labor exception" allowing research and development personnel in the special zones who rank in the top 3% of earned income to negotiate working hours with employers, and another bill excluding this provision.

Opposition voices immediately arose from within the ruling party itself, particularly concerning the bill that includes the special exception.

[Lee Yong-woo / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Are high-earning professionals and managers not human beings? Allowing unlimited labor applies equally to any human, any worker....]

Criticism was also raised that making exceptions to the 52-hour workweek itself represents a retreat in labor rights.

[Seo Wang-jin / Rebuilding Korea Party Lawmaker: "The government must abandon its anachronistic and anti-labor economic view." Do you know who said this? It is what the President said back in 2023 as party leader when the Yoon Suk Yeol administration pushed for a 69-hour workweek....]

Earlier, when President Lee Jae-myung asked for discussions on whether a solution could be found by simplifying existing institutional procedures, interpretations arose within the ruling bloc that revising an enforcement decree rather than pursuing legislation was being considered. The People Power Party pointed out that this, too, is problematic.

[Lee Jong-bae / People Power Party Lawmaker: Aren't you just finishing it off with a patch-up via enforcement decree?]

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon maintained a cautious stance throughout the audit.

[Kim Young-hoon / Minister of Employment and Labor: Because social dialogue is currently underway....]

As the controversy intensifies, an official from the presidential office stated that this is not something that can be handled lightly through an enforcement decree, adding, "As social dialogue is currently underway, we will watch the outcome."

This is interpreted as reflecting the ruling bloc's deep deliberations between the labor sector and the business community.

(Video by Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Yoo Mi-ra)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.