당정청 "국민이 체감하는 변화 만들겠다"…민생 행보에 속도

South Korea's ruling party, government ministries and officials from the presidential met today for the first time since the ruling party's landslide victory in last week's local elections.
The three sides agreed to work to improve people's lives and take follow-up measures to the recent inter-Korean summits.
Kim Min-ji reports.
The landslide victory for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is a show of the public's request that the party and the government work to improve their livelihoods.
That was the consensus among senior ruling party lawmakers,... and top officials from government ministries and the presidential office,... who promised Wednesday that all efforts will now be directed at bettering people's lives.

"The outcome of the local elections is a call for establishing lasting peace on the peninsula and taking care of the people's lives. We will thoroughly abide by those demands. We will work to show that the people made the right decision."

And to get started,... officials have decided to give a little bit of flexibility to the introduction of shorter working hours from next month.
Firms with 300 or more employees would have had to reduce their employees' maximum weekly working hours from the current 68 hours to 52 hours from July 1st, but they will now have a six month grace period to implement the policy.
The change was made as part of government's drive to improve work-life balance.

"The amendment to the law came very quickly,... and there hasn't been much time to prepare for the change. Although it's hard to adjust the starting time of the implementation, there is need to set a grace period for a soft landing."

On top of that, the government plans to announce a comprehensive set of customized support and job creation measures depending on people's income level.
President Moon has been pushing for a so-called income-led growth model -- which consists of creating a virtuous cycle of increased household income and spending.
As for the controversy surrounding a recent amendment to the minimum wage act,... the meeting's participants noted the importance of informing the public of any planned policies and their effects,... so that they can win their support and understanding.
Some have argued that the amendment, which calls for an inclusion of bonuses and other benefits of a certain size as part of the minimum wage,... undermines the wage hike.

"The presidential policy office will work around three goals: being swift in implementing policies, making sure policies have the desired impact, and making sure people feel the effects of policies. We will put in all efforts so that the policies we implement bring about changes to people's livelihoods."

The officials also made clear the need to swiftly implement follow-up measures in light of the recent developments on the Korean peninsula,... such as carrying out economic cooperation, family reunions and joint participation in spor