'Why Not Shorts?' — Ministry of Trade leads Cool Biz campaign ahead of record-breaking summer heat

"Innovation doesn't have to be complicated!" "Why not shorts?" "The dignity of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy does not come from the length of your trousers."

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has launched a "Cool Biz" campaign encouraging staff to wear shorts this summer in preparation for what forecasters warn could be record-breaking heat. The ministry recently posted banners and notices throughout its building urging employees to dress casually, with the aim of boosting work efficiency and cutting air-conditioning energy use.

Vice Minister Moon Shin-hak personally added a message of support to one of the campaign banners: "I'm envious! Please, everyone, wear them! — Vice Minister Moon Shin-hak." When the ministry's general affairs and welfare team briefed him on the shorts campaign last month, Moon gave his enthusiastic blessing, telling staff that "shorts are more than welcome when you come to brief me."

Ministry spokesperson Lee Yong-pil also lent his support by signing an AI-generated promotional poster to signal his personal endorsement of the shorts policy.

The ministry's general affairs and welfare team organized the campaign to foster a more focused work environment during the summer heat and to promote a more flexible organizational culture. Running under the slogan "Why Not Shorts," the team produced a dress-code guide, promotional posters and display panels, and posted words of encouragement and signatures from senior officials to motivate staff participation.

The shorts campaign runs through Aug. 31. However, the guidelines ask employees to refrain from wearing shorts when meeting directly with outside customers or attending official events and meetings.

Major conglomerates — including Samsung, LG Corp, SK Corp, Hyundai Motor and Hanwha — have long adopted open dress codes and now treat shorts in the workplace as a matter of course. The once-surprising sight of shorts at the office has become entirely unremarkable.

Cool Biz is already mainstream abroad. Japan launched a government-led Cool Biz policy in 2005, encouraging workers to ditch neckties and jackets in summer and achieving significant reductions in electricity consumption. In Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Thailand, short sleeves and polo shirts are standard office attire given the climate.

The Korea Meteorological Administration expects heat waves to recur every summer. The government has been emphasizing energy conservation in the building sector as part of its push to cut national greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030. Cool Biz measures such as wearing shorts are emerging as a new workplace trend for the era of carbon neutrality.

Against that backdrop, the ministry's shorts campaign draws attention as a model case leading dress-code reform across government offices.

"Cool Biz means more than just relaxed dress codes," an official in the Sejong government district said. "It is an effective tool for improving work efficiency — wearing a formal suit and tie in sweltering heat actually undermines concentration."

The official added that the initiative also contributes to energy savings, noting that Japan's Ministry of the Environment announced last year that raising air-conditioning temperatures by 2 degrees Celsius through Cool Biz adoption could reduce electricity consumption by roughly 10 percent.