Members of the People Power Party An Cheol-soo and Ko Dong-jin said on the 10th that if Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, genuinely wants to solve the problem of people's livelihood (meatism) and achieve growth that benefits everyone (well-beingism), he must cooperate to pass the semiconductor special law, including exceptions to the 52-hour workweek.
They held a joint press conference in the National Assembly that afternoon and said, "Ignoring the semiconductor special law is akin to tying the legs of the artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor industries and delivering a fatal blow to South Korea's future growth drivers."
Previously, Representative Lee emphasized pragmatism and left room for consideration regarding the exception for the 52-hour workweek under the semiconductor special law, but ultimately indicated an intention to pass it while excluding any labor time regulation exceptions.
During the National Assembly's representative speech that morning, Representative Lee stated, "Even if flexibility in labor hours is inevitable in certain areas due to special needs, it must not serve as a means to extend total working hours or evade labor compensation." This is interpreted as expressing a negative stance towards the ruling party's call to include an exception clause for the 52-hour workweek limit in the semiconductor special law.
Ahn, the founder of AhnLab, a leading internet security service company in South Korea, mentioned his experiences and said, "Research and development inevitably require concentrated labor due to their nature."
He explained, "Especially during the prototype development phase, overtime and overnight work are unavoidable," adding, "When I developed the V3 vaccine software, I had to stay up every night for several months leading up to the product launch. Intensive work is essential to test, fix bugs, and improve the software." He further noted, "However, after the launch, I provided ample compensation and vacation."
They stated, "Calling for growth while stubbornly insisting on regulations is an act of deceiving the public and is merely a show that puts South Korea's future at collateral, and it's time for action and implementation, not a show."
They emphasized, "Countries such as the United States, China, and Europe are providing unprecedented subsidies to foster the semiconductor industry and are doing everything possible to support it. Semiconductor personnel are conducting research for 100 hours each," adding, "The White Collar Exemption in the U.S. and Japan's Advanced Professional System exemplify this."
They urged, "We strongly call for the legislation to be completed on the exception for the 52-hour workweek for at least technical development personnel in the semiconductor field during this temporary National Assembly in February, so that we can enhance the competitiveness of the semiconductor industry and advance as an innovative nation leading the AI era."