Office workers take a brief respite from the demands of labor during a coffee break. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) — A new survey shows that South Korean workers overwhelmingly view irregular employment as the most urgent labor issue the Lee Jae-myung administration must address.
According to results released Sunday by online labor advocacy group Workplace Gapjil 119, nearly four in ten salaried workers (38.8%) cited the country’s widespread use of non-regular workers—who often face job insecurity, low wages, and weak legal protections—as the top labor priority for the new government.
Other pressing concerns included:
-
Youth unemployment (34.8%)
-
Low wages (33.8%)
-
Long working hours (25.2%)
-
Industrial safety and serious workplace accidents (21.0%)
-
Protection for platform workers (12.7%)
-
Workplace harassment and discrimination (9.7%)
-
Guaranteeing the right to unionize (2.3%)
The majority of workers expressed hope for progress under the new administration, with 65.3% saying they believe the Lee government will improve labor conditions.
Kwon Doo-seop, a labor attorney with Workplace Gapjil 119, said the call to fix the non-regular employment system reflects widespread frustrations with employment instability, discriminatory treatment, and exclusion from core labor rights such as union activity and collective bargaining.
He urged the government to immediately implement key labor pledges, including:
-
Presumption of employee status
-
Amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act
-
Extension of labor law protections to businesses with fewer than five employees
-
Expansion of sector-level collective bargaining and contract coverage
-
Mandatory employment succession for subcontracted workers
-
A ban on lump-sum wage contracts
The survey, conducted by Global Research from June 1–7, polled 1,000 employed adults aged 19 and over across South Korea. The sample was structured proportionally based on labor force data, with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
