Yang, Chairperson of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), demanded that Minister Park of the Ministry of Planning and Budget return the boom-time profits of major semiconductor corporations and excess tax revenues to society.
On the 28th, Yang met Minister Park at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, and said, "How to share corporations' profits and excess tax revenues will determine the success or failure of the Lee Jae-myung administration," adding, "No matter how much the semiconductor industry enjoys a boom, if a tiny few monopolize the benefits, there is no reason for the government to support and back it." He added, "For this, appropriate allocation and execution of the budget are important."
Minister Park said, "The government must take on a heavier sense of responsibility and establish appropriate measures in a situation where polarization is deepening not only among non-semiconductor, non-export, and non-large corporations but also among non-regular workers, regions, young people, and the poor." Even so, he noted, "From the standpoint of being responsible for the fiscal coffers, we have to look at this a bit more macroscopically and comprehensively, and more in depth," and "We cannot avoid investing to raise Korea's potential growth rate."
Yang, the Chairperson, also asked to resolve the issue of treatment for non-regular workers in the public institutional sector. Yang said, "Including indirect employment, the government accounts for about 20% of total employment," and added, "As the president intends, non-regular workers in the public institutional sector should be guaranteed a proper wage, not the minimum wage."
In response, Minister Park said, "The government is actively working to narrow labor market gaps and ease employment instability, including the measures to improve treatment for non-regular workers in the public institutional sector released in April," adding, "In the process of budget formulation going forward and the operation of the Public Officials' Labor Committee to be launched from September, we plan to closely review related proposals."
Meanwhile, Minister Park previously met Kim Dong-myung, the Chairperson of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, on the 20th. It is the first time in about 20 years that a Minister of Planning and Budget has met the heads of the two major umbrella unions. It is also the first time since June 2020, when then–Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki met with the Chairperson of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), that the head of the budget authorities has held talks with the KCTU chair.