Main opposition Democratic Party(DP) leader Lee Jae-myung pledged to follow through on the party's earlier promise to introduce a four-and-a-half-day workweek.

At a Supreme Council meeting in the central city of Daejeon on Wednesday, Lee said a strategy of overcoming the economic crisis and securing sustainable growth by increasing working hours is untenable in a rebuke of the government’s push to revise the current 52-hour workweek.

Emphasizing moves by other countries to adopt a four-day workweek, the DP chief vowed to lead the country toward reduced working hours, a better standard of living, and a focus on quality over quantity in labor.

On the government's deduction of next year's budget for research and development, Lee said young researchers are being dismissed from their jobs and their livelihoods are in jeopardy, adding that such a scenario should not occur in an advanced economy.

The opposition leader promised that his party will do all that it can to reinstate the budget to ease public concerns, preserve the dreams of young researchers and set the foundation for the sustainable growth in the nation.