A senior Cheong Wa Dae official said Thursday a total of 81 labor disputes occurred in the first five months of this year, a dramatic decrease from the 143 cases recorded during the same period last year.

The number of cases referred for arbitration totaled 209, less than half the number of last year's cases.

In a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae, Moon Jae-in, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, reported that his office had drawn up a comparison of labor disputes out of concerns that such labor disagreements could increase due to the government's pro-labor leanings.