South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung delivered a historic address at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday, marking the first time a Labor Day event has been held at the presidential complex.
"I will neither compromise nor make concessions on workplace safety," Lee declared, vowing to build a "normal" country where no worker ever has to risk their life at work. The president emphasized that safeguarding workers is the most basic responsibility of any nation and any business.
The event brought together some 130 participants, including key figures from labor, management and government, as well as workers from diverse occupations. In an unprecedented show of unity, both major umbrella labor unions—the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions—participated together for the first time, despite their traditionally different political alignments.
Lee pushed back forcefully against the notion that worker welfare and business growth are incompatible. "We can only move forward by breaking free from the outdated thinking that being pro-business means being anti-worker," he said, according to the Korea Herald. "Growth has a future only when labor stands behind it."
Amid growing anxiety over artificial intelligence's impact on employment, the president sought to reassure workers that people take priority over productivity. "As technologies advance, the prevailing view is that machines powered by artificial intelligence will largely replace human labor," he acknowledged. "But it is not right to ask workers to sacrifice themselves in the name of productivity. Growth that leaves workers behind is not growth at all."
Lee called workers "the backbone of our economy," emphasizing their dual role as those who keep operations running on the ground and drive the consumer spending that fuels economic expansion.
The historic gathering comes at a pivotal moment for Korean labor politics. Korea had initially observed Labor Day on May 1 before it was renamed "Workers' Day" in 1963 under an anti-communist government. The Lee administration restored the name to Labor Day last year and designated it as a national holiday earlier this year, allowing all workers—including previously excluded civil servants—to take the day off.
In Korea, as across dynamic Asian economies, cultural exports and technological leadership reshape global perceptions—even as security tensions persist. President Lee's Labor Day address demonstrates how South Korea is navigating the tensions between rapid technological transformation and the social compact with workers, balancing its identity as both a global innovation leader and a society committed to labor rights.
A variety of events took place across the country on Friday, highlighting the value of work and its role in improving quality of life and driving economic growth.
