President Lee Jae-myung noted on the 3rd regarding the '4.5-day workweek,' which was part of his presidential election promise, that "there are those who misunderstand that it will forcibly be implemented through law at a certain point." He added, "If that is the case, the conflict and opposition will be too severe. It should be done gradually, little by little."
On this day, President Lee held a press conference at the Blue House banquet hall to mark his 30th day in office, stating, "I believe that our society must achieve a reduction in working hours going forward."
President Lee stated, "Working one extra hour for four days and only half a day on the fifth day is not really a 4.5-day workweek. It is similar to a modified work system." He said, "We need to increase labor productivity while also reducing working hours to make work-life balance possible."
He further mentioned, "Even now, we are said to work more than 120 hours compared to the OECD average. It has been about a month and a half." He emphasized, "This needs to be reduced for a healthy life."
He continued, "Some say that only public servants, public enterprises, and some large corporations will implement the 4.5-day workweek, which will exacerbate the divide between the rich and the poor." He stated, "There is some validity to that point. Just because long working hours are happening does not mean we should not reduce them elsewhere. I think that if this becomes established as a social trend, the 4.5-day workweek will realistically become an achievable goal overall."
He added, "When I was young and working in a factory, I couldn't take a break for a whole month. At some point, it was mandated that I would get a day off once a month, and I thought, 'What a good system this is.' After that, it became once every two weeks, then every week, and finally half-holidays were established." He remarked, "It took a lot of time, but this is the way it must go. I want to get there as quickly as possible."