The chief of the ruling Saenuri Party said Wednesday that reforming the rigid labor market is the foundation of President Park Geun-hye’s “four major reforms.”
“Labor reform is the foundation of every reform that will reorganize the entire workforce and system of the labor market,” Rep. Kim Moo-sung said during a speech to mark the beginning of the National Assembly’s regular session.
The party has vowed to pass a set of bills to reform the labor market and create more jobs to bolster President Park’s reform drive centered on the labor, public, finance and education sectors.
Kim also said that in order for the four major reforms to succeed and to receive the support from the people, reforming chaebol, or family-run conglomerates, is needed.
The remarks were apparently made in response to the demand by the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy that reforming chaebol is a higher priority than the government-led labor reforms.
The opposition party has argued that adopting the system is not a solution to the current problem and that reforming the rich that own conglomerates must come first.
Kim once again noted that the ultimate goal of the labor reform drive is to create more jobs, especially to boost youth employment.
The ruling party and the government have been stressing the importance of giving more jobs to young adults and the unemployed, saying that more jobs will ultimately turn the sluggish economy around.
“The most important priority of all economic policies pushed by the Saenuri Party will now be centered on job creation,” Kim said.
Kim also suggested holding an open primary ahead of next year’s general elections, saying that the system will allow ordinary people to select candidates for parliamentary elections.
Calls from both the main and opposition parties have mounted recently to adopt a full-scale open primary system instead of selecting candidates through party nominations.
“I propose holding talks with NPAD Chairman Moon Jae-in as soon as possible,” Kim said. (Yonhap)
