President Yoon Suk Yeol has expressed his commitment to rooting out illegal acts by labor unions at industrial sites, saying doing nothing against them would raise questions about what the government exists for, his office said Sunday.

Yoon made the remark during a meeting with about 150 government ministry employees held in the central administrative city of Sejong on Tuesday last week, stressing that a key point in labor reform is to ensure the rule of law, the office said in a statement.

"If I fail to normalize industrial sites where violence, threats and blackmailing are rampant, I think I don't deserve to receive taxpayer money from the people," Yoon was quoted as saying during the meeting.

Some labor unions have been accused of illegal acts, such as using the threat of collective action to coerce employers at construction and other industrial sites to hire their union members and even children of unionists.

"Management won't be able to do anything if the government does nothing about illegal acts," Yoon said. "Would that deserve to be called a government or a nation if it leaves illegal acts ... at industrial sites as they are?" (Yonhap)