Presidential chief of staff for policy Sung Tae-yoon emphasized the Yoon administration’s labor reforms, highlighting efforts to make the labor market more flexible, during a keynote address on Wednesday. He told reporters that the government is working to adapt employment systems, including wage structures and retirement policies, to better align with productivity and demographic realities. Sung dismissed President Yoon Suk-yeol’s earlier proposals for a 69-hour workweek, stressing the importance of creating diverse and adaptable work arrangements.

Sung also connected these labor reforms to the Yoon administration’s broader 4+1 agenda, which focuses on structural reforms in four key areas — labor, education, pensions and healthcare — plus additional measures to address South Korea’s low birth rate. He noted that the government aims to reduce barriers to marriage and childbirth by easing work-family balance, as part of efforts to address the country’s low birth rate and long-term economic sustainability.