President Moon Jae-in reiterated the need to reduce the country's working hours Monday, noting that long hours not only reduce people's quality of life but also cause unnecessary accidents.

The president's remarks came in a weekly meeting with his top aides at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

"We must no longer accept a society that thinks long work hours and overwork are natural. Among countries with an employment rate of more than 70 percent, no country has annual working hours of more than 1,800 hours," Moon said, according to Cheong Wa Dae pool reports.


Citing an earlier report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the president noted that South Korean workers put in over 300 hours more than others in the remaining 35 OECD member countries.

"Without job sharing through reduced work hours, it is impossible to significantly raise the country's employment rate or improve the quality of people's lives," Moon said.

The OECD report said an average South Korean worked 2,069 hours in 2016, 305 hours more than the OECD average of 1,764 hours that same year.

"I believe now is time for each and every member of our society, including the government, to make a responsible choice and implement that change," the president told his aides.

The president called for stepped up efforts to push through a proposed revision to the Labor Standards Act, currently pending at the National Assembly, that seeks to strictly limit maximum working hours to 52 hours per week.

Reduced hours may be key to implementing Moon's election pledge of creating over 800,000 new jobs in the public sector.

"I believe there is a need to consider correcting the administrative interpretation (of the labor act) should it become clear the revision bill may fail to pass through parliament," the president said. "Also, I ask you to come up with various support measures, so that reducing long working hours can lead to job sharing and increased compatibility between one's work and life." (Yonhap)