Lee Jae-myung, the president, said on the 10th that Korea must make a major transition to growth for all that shares opportunities and rewards evenly for sustainable growth. He then cited Hanwha Ocean's handling of the issue of provisional seizures against workers and the payment of performance bonuses as model cases, adding with praise that he almost called to say so but did not.
At a roundtable titled "Dialogue with business leaders practicing mutual growth" held at Cheong Wa Dae in the afternoon, the president said that although the economy has entered an overall recovery, with exports showing strong momentum, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) breaking through 5,000, and the growth rate recovering to the 2% range, it may still feel like a different world for small and midsize companies, the regions, and young people.
He also said a fair, cyclical ecosystem must be created to enable a shift to a society where creativity and innovation work. He said mutually beneficial cooperation between large and small companies can be an investment and a survival strategy, not charity, adding that even tigers need grasslands to survive, which is the law of nature, and that creating healthy rabbits and wide grasslands will make Korea's development possible.
In particular, citing the case of Hanwha Ocean, he said the company resolved issues such as provisional seizures against workers well and recently contributed about 89 billion won annually so that subcontractor workers could receive the same performance bonuses as directly employed workers. He said he saw the media reports and almost called but did not, adding that he thinks it is a very exemplary case for improving the dual structure between large and small companies.
He went on to say the government hopes to spread a culture of mutual growth like the Hanwha Ocean case across the economy and that it will work to back the spread of a culture of cooperation throughout platforms, industries, and finance. The roundtable was attended by major conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK, Hanwha Ocean, and Naver, as well as partner small and midsize companies.
The roundtable was held as the yellow envelope law, a new labor law aimed at strengthening the bargaining rights of subcontract workers (amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act), took effect. The law strengthens the responsibility of prime contractors for subcontracted workers, broadens the scope of labor disputes, and limits corporations' claims for damages against striking workers. In the past, when Ssangyong Motor filed a damages suit against the union and the court ordered payment of a little over 4.7 billion won, a citizen put 4,700 won into a yellow envelope and proposed that "100,000 people split 4.7 billion won," which led to the "yellow envelope law."