President Lee: "Ah... honestly... The National Assembly is frustrating"... Sighs over slow legislative pace

President Lee Jae-myung chairs Cabinet meeting on Oct. 20
After being told legislation for "economic sanctions" is being pursued
Lee: "Has it still not been done? ... I've been talking about this since last year"

President Lee Jae-myung sighed and said he was “frustrated” after being told that legislation related to industrial safety was moving too slowly on Oct. 20.

At a Cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae that day, President Lee received a report from Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon on statistics for fatal accidents subject to accident investigations. Minister Kim explained, “We are pursuing a law that would impose economic sanctions in addition to penalties—not only when an accident occurs, but also when someone fails to do what they are required to do, even if no accident occurs.”

President Lee Jaemyung speaks at a Cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae on Oct. 20, 2026. Yonhap News.

President Lee sighed and asked, “Has it still not been done?” He added, “Ah... honestly... I’ve been talking about this since last year.” He trailed off, saying, “The bills are all ready, but in the National Assembly...” Minister Kim lamented, “The comprehensive measures announced on Sept. 15 also took a year to pass, finally clearing the National Assembly on Oct. 1. The media talk a lot about administrative fines, but they have not even gone into effect yet.”

President Lee continued, “So there’s been a lot of talk, but the legislation has not been completed?” He stressed, “Wasn’t it decided that companies would be fined a certain percentage of their revenue or a fixed amount of several hundred million or several billion won if they failed to take safety measures? That is what will make people pay attention at the worksite.” He added, “I know it’s frustrating that legislation is taking so long in the National Assembly, but tell them to make every effort to get it done quickly. Go and plead with them.”

At a Cabinet meeting earlier this year, President Lee also criticized the pace of legislative action as far too slow, saying that “it is impossible to get anything done.” On Jan. 20, he urged Minister Kim to “go to the National Assembly and plead with them to get it done quickly” regarding legislation to shorten the processing time for industrial accident compensation claims. On Jan. 27, he criticized Lim Kwang-hyun, then commissioner of the National Tax Service, saying, “There are hundreds of bills pending in the National Assembly. Who knows when they’ll be passed?”

Meanwhile, Minister Kim reported that the number of fatalities in work-related accidents in the third quarter of this year had fallen to 366, the lowest cumulative figure on record. President Lee praised him, saying, “You said you would stake your position on reducing industrial accidents, and it has been almost a year. You’ve achieved significant results.” He added, “This is a groundbreaking achievement. I’d like to give a round of applause in recognition of everyone who has worked hard on the ground, including labor inspectors.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.