Government weighs extending special overtime to AI research amid labor talks

The government is reviewing whether to expand the special extended work hours regime to cover AI research and development. A tripartite labor-management-government panel visited an automotive R&D facility Friday to gather views from industry and experts.

The government said it would weigh both the need to secure competitiveness in the AI industry and the protection of workers' health rights before deciding whether to introduce the system.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor said the "Working Hours Reduction Roadmap Implementation Task Force" held its fifth meeting Friday at Hyundai Motor's research center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, where it heard field opinions on the need to extend the special overtime regime to AI research and development.

The task force is a 17-member consultative body of labor, management and government experts formed to monitor how the "Working Hours Reduction Roadmap," announced by the government late last year, is taking hold on the ground.

The special extended work hours system allows employees to work beyond the statutory overtime limit when special circumstances arise — such as disasters, unexpected emergencies or research and development needs — provided the worker consents and the minister of employment and labor grants approval.

Currently, the special overtime regime for R&D applies only to projects aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of materials, parts and equipment in response to Japan's export restrictions, and to semiconductor research and development. When the government unveiled the working hours reduction roadmap late last year, it said it would review expanding the scope to include AI research and development.

At Friday's session, participants raised the view that intensive research and development is necessary given the increasingly fierce competition in AI technology.

Kim Hyeon-yong, director of the Korea Automobile Research Institute, said the automotive industry's paradigm is shifting rapidly with the spread of AI-based autonomous driving technology, and that concentrated investment in autonomous driving AI research and development is needed to compete with leading countries such as the United States and China.

Kim Ju-hong, executive vice president of the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, said institutional support for AI research and development is needed to ensure domestic automakers do not fall behind in global competition.

A Hyundai Motor AI algorithm development researcher said that given the nature of the work — repeatedly analyzing errors and revising algorithms during road testing and safety verification — continuous and intensive research during certain periods is unavoidable.

The task force then exchanged views on the feasibility of flexible work arrangements in the automotive industry, the supply and demand conditions for research personnel, and measures to protect workers' health rights when special extended overtime is used.

Lee Hyeon-ok, director general of labor policy at the Ministry of Employment and Labor and co-chair of the task force, said special extended work hours represent "a very exceptional system within working-hours regulation," adding that any decision on whether to apply it to AI research and development would be made carefully after thoroughly gathering opinions from labor, management, experts and the field.