The Last Temporary National Assembly Before the General Election... Ruling and Opposition Parties Push to Pass the Financial Consumer Protection Act and Quarantine Act

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[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] The ruling and opposition parties have agreed on the schedule for the February extraordinary session of the National Assembly, increasing the likelihood of passing the Financial Consumer Protection Act. Amendments to the Quarantine Act and Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, aimed at preventing the spread of infectious diseases such as the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia), are also expected to be processed.

According to the National Assembly on the 12th, the ruling and opposition parties plan to hold plenary sessions on the 27th and the 5th of next month to process about 170 livelihood-related bills. Although the specific bills need to go through standing committee meetings and party whip consultations, the passage of the Financial Consumer Protection Act and amendments to the Quarantine Act and Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act are currently the most likely.

The Financial Consumer Protection Act, which aims to expand the principles of the 'six prohibited sales practices' such as prohibition of unfair business practices and undue solicitation to financial products, began discussions following the 2008 global financial crisis but has repeatedly failed to pass the National Assembly. However, following the large-scale principal loss incident caused by overseas interest rate-linked derivative-linked funds (DLF), the bill passed the Political Affairs Committee last November, marking a rare consensus between the ruling and opposition parties.

Some concerns have been raised that the bill might again be held up due to being tied to the Internet-only Bank Act, which has a low chance of passage, but the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee maintains that the two bills will be handled separately. A staff member from the office of Chae I-bae, a member of the Bareunmirae Party on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, told Asia Economy, "The two bills are subject to separate processing," adding, "While Representative Chae maintains his opposition to the Internet-only Bank Act, it will not affect the passage of the Financial Consumer Protection Act in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee."

The ruling and opposition parties also share a unified voice on the necessity of passing amendments to the Quarantine Act and Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act. Representative Ki Dong-min from the Democratic Party and Representative Won Yoo-chul from the Liberty Korea Party have each proposed related amendments. However, the bill proposed by Representative Won includes provisions allowing the request to ban entry of foreigners (such as those from China) arriving from regions where infectious disease patients have been reported, which is expected to cause some conflict.

The Democratic Party is also aiming to pass police reform-related bills (such as the Police Agency Act and Police Officers Act), which are considered follow-up measures to the prosecution reform. Since the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency is scheduled to launch in July, there is a need for bills that can limit police power before then. On the other hand, the Liberty Korea Party opposes the ruling party's push to pass police reform bills without proper negotiation or discussion, so the likelihood of passage is considered low.

Additionally, the ruling and opposition parties are expected to process bills such as the Assembly and Demonstration Act, the Tax Accountant Act, and the Labor Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, which were ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. Other bills expected to be on the table during this extraordinary session include the Special Act on Fine Dust, the Past Affairs Act, the Regional Commercial District Coexistence Act, and the Fair Subcontracting Act.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.