Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, left, speaks next to Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) Chairman Son Kyung-shik during a CEO talk event held at the KEF in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Kim Hyun-bin

Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung requested top conglomerates to make more jobs for young people through their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives, Wednesday.

"I don't think it's a bad thing at all that companies strive to maximize profits, but we ask you to pay special attention to employing young people as part of ESG management," Lee said. "It seems that the young people have completely taken on the pain and suffering of our society's low growth. It seems that we have come to the point where the conflict intensifies."

The comments came during talks with executives from the top 10 conglomerates, including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG, as well as CJ Group at the Korea Enterprises Federation, in Seoul, Wednesday.

"In the end, it is because of the lack of the total amount of opportunities," he said. "To overcome this problem, we need to structurally recover growth, and for that to happen, massive investment and interest from the government will be essential."

In regard to easing corporate regulations, Lee said, "It is not right to strengthen regulations unilaterally, but it is also not right to ease regulations unilaterally."

To achieve rapid industrial transformation in the new business sector, Lee believes the implementation of new regulations is needed first while tackling problematic regulations along the way.

"The relationship between the market and the state is often described as a conflict relationship, but it's difficult for a government to beat the market or go against the market to exist," he said.

"The role of the government is to ensure that the market works properly, secure fair competition and efficient resource allocation and freely unfold creativity and innovation."