The Australian media focused on the ’69-hour week maximum’ promoted by the Korean government. In particular, it drew attention by writing ‘Kwarosa’, which is a short pronunciation of ‘overworked death’.
On the 14th (local time), Australia’s ABC broadcast ‘Korea proposes a 69-hour work week. In an article titled ‘How does it compare to Australia or other Asian countries?’, it reported that “the Korean government is trying to pass a reform bill that allows workers to work up to 69 hours a week.”
“Korea introduced the ’52-hour week’ in 2018 when the opposition Democratic Party was in power,” he said.
ABC said, “Koreans still work longer than other countries,” and “According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Koreans work an average of 1915 hours a year, far exceeding the OECD average (1716 hours).”
“There is a word ‘Kwarosa’ (death from overwork) because of this kind of work culture in Korea,” he said.
According to the ABC, the maximum working week in Australia is 38 hours. Unlike Korea, there is no upper limit on overtime, but workers can refuse to work overtime, which is considered unreasonable, so the working hours are not long compared to Asian countries.
Christine (26), who worked as an English teacher in Korea and Japan, told the ABC, “I witnessed my colleagues’ mental health deteriorating from working long hours overtime.” There are cases,” he said.
Then, he pointed out that such a working environment rather reduces the quality of work, saying, “If you are overworked and stressed, can you really achieve the best performance?”
Connie Chung, an associate professor at the University of South Australia in Australia, explained the long working hours in Asia because “Western societies tend to be more individualistic and non-hierarchical, but Asians are collectivistic and hierarchical.”
Earlier, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced plans to reform the working hour system, such as allowing up to 69 hours of work per week. Later, when negative public opinion was expressed from various fields, saying, “The 69-hour week system is a regression to the past,” President Seok-Yeol Yoon said on the day, “We carefully listen to the various opinions of workers, especially the opinions of the MZ generation, to review the bill and what to supplement about public communication. Do it,” he ordered.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.