'Specific cases of misconduct at construction sites must be examined on their merits'

President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a senior secretaries meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a senior secretaries meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung said Friday that neither he nor the labor minister would take labor's side unconditionally, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach to labor-management relations.

Lee made the remarks after sharing a post on X, formerly Twitter, that morning calling for attention to alleged illegal acts by construction unions. The author of the post Lee shared wrote that construction companies were suffering losses due to illegal conduct and work obstruction by construction unions.

Responding to the post, Lee said he was grateful for the opinion and added that whether conduct at construction sites falls within the legitimate exercise of the three fundamental labor rights or constitutes illegal and improper behavior "must be determined based on the specifics of each case."

He said he would direct the labor minister to review the possibility of illegal acts at construction sites, and went on to say that anyone with specific cases should send the materials to the minister's office.

"Both the labor minister and I come from working backgrounds, but we do not take labor's side unconditionally," Lee said. "Just as we appoint business figures to handle industrial affairs, I want to make clear that we are doing our utmost to find a fair and reasonable balance in mediating the interests of labor and management."


sang@heraldcorp.com