President Lee Jae Myung delivers a congratulatory address at the Korea-Mongolia Business Forum at a hotel in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Thursday (local time). [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung delivers a congratulatory address at the Korea-Mongolia Business Forum at a hotel in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Thursday (local time). [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung said Friday that allegations IKEA Korea demoted employees returning from parental leave and pressured them to resign were "unacceptable," speaking out on the controversy while on a state visit to Mongolia.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, published in the early hours of Friday, Lee said global companies that operated as model employers elsewhere had at times drawn criticism for "anti-labor and opaque management practices" specifically in South Korea.

"That was during a time when our government pursued anti-labor policies and was mired in corruption," Lee wrote. "But South Korea is now reinventing itself as a model society and model government leading the world — and if such outdated management practices occur, they cannot be tolerated."

Lee also drew a parallel with South Korean companies operating abroad. "Just as our companies must not engage in anti-labor or unreasonable conduct overseas, foreign companies must not do so here either," he said. "We will conduct a thorough investigation, and if the allegations are confirmed, we will take strict action in line with international standards."

The Anyang branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor had already launched a probe into the allegations against IKEA Korea.


moone@heraldcorp.com