Photo : YONHAP News

Acting President Choi Sang-mok called to swiftly enact a special law on the semiconductor industry, which includes a clause on exempting high-income earners in the sector’s research and development from the 52-hour workweek system.

At an inaugural session of a tripartite consultative body on state affairs involving the rival parties and the government on Thursday, Choi cast concerns over a discontinuity in research from the current workweek and local businesses’ inability to handle orders.

The acting president stressed that personnel in the semiconductor industries of major economies, including the U.S. and Japan, are concentrating on the development of new technologies without being constrained by legal labor hours.

Choi urged the National Assembly to reconsider the clause in a related bill and seek a reasonable solution premised on the inclusion of safety measures to protect the workers’ right to health.

There was a clear difference in positions between the acting president, ruling People Power Party(PPP) interim chief Kwon Young-se, main opposition Democratic Party(DP) leader Lee Jae-myung, and Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik.

For instance, Lee publicly disagreed with Choi’s argument that the semiconductor bill would be in vain even after it passes parliament, if the labor hour clause is taken out.