Work 69 hours a week riots in South Korea

South Korea backed down from its plan to increase the working week to 69 hours in the face of strong reaction from young people.

The Seoul government planned to increase the weekly work week to 69 after complaints from the business community that the 52-hour week was not enough. However, the plan sparked mass protests in the country.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol instructed the government to review the plan, especially as a result of protests by millennials and Generation Z. Presidential spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye said Yoon’s instruction included demanding that the government communicate more with the public, especially the youth population, about weekly work hours, and said that the government should protect workers’ rights.

WORKING HOURS MORE THAN MANY COUNTRIES

South Korean President Yoon, who came to power last year and is a pro-capitalist right-wing leader, is increasingly reacting to South Korean President Yoon’s policies to provide more flexibility in the world of business. The unions describe the country’s plan to further increase working hours, which are already too long compared to many countries, as a “big attack on the working class.”

While many countries are trying to shorten their weekly working hours, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, and trying to work for 4 days, it is noteworthy that South Korea is trying to take a step in the opposite direction. According to 2021 data, South Koreans worked an average of 1,915 hours per year, 199 hours more than the average for workers in OECD countries and 566 hours more than workers in Germany.

‘THEY DISLIKE THE HEALTH OF WORKERS’

The opposition argues that increasing working hours in South Korea, which is Asia’s fourth-largest economy, will not solve the jobs crisis that erupted with record-low birth rates.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said: “This plan makes it legal to work from 9 am to midnight. They don’t care about the health of the workers,” he said. Women’s organizations also said the plan would make life more difficult for working mothers.