President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a ministerial briefing by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Fair Trade Commission at Cheong Wa Dae's Yeongbingwan on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a ministerial briefing by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Fair Trade Commission at Cheong Wa Dae's Yeongbingwan on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung asked Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon on Tuesday to draw up bold measures that go beyond existing frameworks to expand quality jobs for young people.

Speaking at a ministerial briefing by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Fair Trade Commission at Cheong Wa Dae's Yeongbingwan, Lee said the youth employment situation — which he called the future of South Korea — "is still not good."

Lee also praised the Labor Ministry for a decline in workplace fatalities. "A truly irreplaceable Korea can only be achieved when people's lives and safety are respected and the value of labor is respected," he said. "Thanks to the ministry's strong efforts, workplace accident deaths have been falling sharply. I find that genuinely heartening personally. It seems like nearly 100 or more lives are being saved every month compared to before — people who would otherwise no longer be with us. You have done something truly great."

He urged the ministry not to rest on those gains. "Please give everything you have to make workplaces safer and ensure workers are fairly compensated," he said, adding that the social safety net must be strengthened to protect the growing number of non-traditional workers in the AI era.

Turning to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Lee called for a societal shift toward a startup-centered economy. "The growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, the true backbone and foundation of the Korean economy, is an essential condition for everyone's growth," he said, adding that policy support was needed to help SMEs build a sustainable growth base through manufacturing innovation, not just protection.

He also directed the ministry to press ahead without wavering on what he called a universal startup project — one that supports anyone with an idea to pursue entrepreneurship without fear of failure.

"The industrial landscape is changing, and the share of people employed at good companies is gradually shrinking. Job quality is also declining, and that trend will worsen as AI becomes more widespread," Lee said. "Meanwhile, demand for good jobs keeps growing — so ultimately, I believe the breakthrough has to come through startups."

He said South Korea must make a fundamental transformation into a startup-centered nation.

Lee also called on the ministry to ensure that the warmth of economic growth reaches SMEs, small business owners and neighborhood commercial districts, urging efforts to build a cooperative business ecosystem, revitalize local commercial areas and strengthen financial safety nets for businesses.

Lee praised the Fair Trade Commission for cracking down on a pork price-fixing cartel. "You have contributed to curbing price increases by sanctioning cartels in items closely tied to people's daily lives — and recently you caught the pork cartel as well," he said, prompting applause in the room.

He said the FTC appeared to be living up to its reputation as the economy's police force and prosecutors by actively cracking down on cartels and hoarding. "I hope you will keep a sharp eye out so that no one even dreams of gaining unfair profits through cartels or other abnormal transactions," he said.

Lee also asked the commission to continue monitoring and correcting unfair trade practices such as unjust supplier pricing and technology theft.


moone@heraldcorp.com