Lee Jae-myung, the president, said on the 30th that "if some organized workers make excessive and unfair demands, saying they alone will survive, and draw public reproach, it harms not only the union in question but also other workers." He did not specify which organization he meant, but some interpret the remark as pointing to Samsung Electronics, which is demanding a performance bonus amounting to 15% of operating profit and is set to stage a general strike.
Presiding over a senior secretaries' meeting at the Blue House that afternoon, the president said, "The strength of workers, who are bound to be the weaker party in employment, comes from solidarity with other workers who share the same position," adding, "That is precisely why the three labor rights are guaranteed."
He continued, "It's not 'let me alone survive'; to build a world where we can all live together, a sense of responsibility and solidarity is also needed," and emphasized, "Broadly speaking, we are all the same members of Korea; if we put ourselves in one another's shoes and build a world where we live together, it would be good."
Addressing the employer side, the president said, "Management must treat workers as valuable partners in running corporations."
At the meeting, the president said that mutual growth is needed to respond to the restructuring of worksites brought by advances in artificial intelligence (AI). "With the great AI transition, labor and industrial worksites will be exposed to fundamental change going forward," he said. "To overcome this grave challenge, we need a spirit of mutual growth and cooperation." He added, "Management must treat workers as valuable partners in running corporations, and workers and unions should also share a sense of responsibility," and said, "It would be good if workers also demonstrated solidarity with one another."