DP leader proposes bipartisan committee on Trump's tariff policy, holds debate session on PPP-backed chip bill
Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chair of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, signaled his pro-business push on Monday in an apparent bid to court centrist voters, as he proposed a bipartisan effort to support Korean companies impacted by US President Donald Trump's tariff measures on trade partners.
"Trump has finalized tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, and our companies with factories in those countries have also been hit hard," Lee said at a meeting of the party's leadership, adding that bipartisanship is vital to overcoming the national crisis.
Also on Monday, Lee's party urged the conservative government to allocate an extra budget of at least 5 trillion won ($3.4 billion) to support the advancement of artificial intelligence technologies and scientific research.
Moreover, Lee described a contentious clause in a ruling party-backed bill concerning semiconductor chip researchers' workweek regulation as "something reasonable."
The special bill to support the semiconductor industry, proposed in November, advocates for a more flexible application of the 52-hour workweek for semiconductor industry researchers, contingent on employee consent, in Asia's chipmaking powerhouse home to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
Under the current Labor Standards Act, the workweek for semiconductor industry workers can be extended to 64 hours per state approval. The new bill calls for the chip industry to be exempt from this limit. Those in the industry could then be asked to work longer hours at certain times.
At Monday's debate he moderated, Lee -- regarded as a liberal politician -- even countered some of the labor circles' claims that the special bill would end up breaching workers' rights and lead to poorer working conditions.
"We see concerns that the chip industry's (partial) exemption to the workweek application could have a spillover effect to other industries that could worsen working conditions in general ... But we should not be concerned that these employers will exploit the exemptions and break down the whole labor system. I hope we can discuss ways to stave off these concerns," he said.
His remarks were in line with earlier ones made at a meeting on Friday, where he said he would be open to giving up his 13 trillion won proposal made last year, designed to provide a 250,000 won voucher to every South Korean citizen for use at local businesses as a kind of universal basic income. Lee then said he is open to compromise with the ruling party over the supplementary budget.
The ruling People Power Party, however, claimed Lee's change from his "antibusiness stance" is far from trustworthy.
"Lee has blocked every discussion that is aligned with our national interest, and is suddenly shifting to the right by bringing forward the agenda of national growth and (being) business-friendly," argued Rep. Kwon Young-se, interim leader of the ruling party during a party meeting Monday.
"Lee lays out a business-friendly agenda out of nowhere, so who would ever trust this?" added Kwon, whose party plans to convene meetings with the government over livelihood issues on Tuesday and Friday, also seen as a move to court centrist voters.
The main opposition party's fresh proposal for a supplementary budget Monday to stimulate the growth of artificial intelligence technologies is also "self-contradictory," Kwon said, given that the party had a history of unilaterally halting the tax code legislation to benefit companies dedicated to advanced technologies despite a bipartisan compromise reached in November, according to him.
"It's like backstabbing businesses and putting a band-aid on them," Kwon said.
