[Exclusive] National Assembly Secretariat to Promote Bill for Remote Voting and Non-Face-to-Face Meetings During COVID-19 Emergencies... Possibly Within This Month

Secretary General of the National Assembly Kim Young-chun. / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The Secretariat of the National Assembly is pushing for a revision of the law to enable non-face-to-face meetings and remote voting in preparation for emergency situations caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The plan is to introduce this before the regular session of the National Assembly in September. This is to prevent the National Assembly from coming to a halt, reflecting the conditions at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kim Young-chun, Secretary General of the National Assembly, said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 18th, "As an emergency plan in response to COVID-19, the Secretariat is drafting a bill to amend the National Assembly Act to allow untact (non-face-to-face) meetings and remote voting in the National Assembly," adding, "We plan to proceed with consultations with the leadership of each party's parliamentary group and aim to introduce it as a member-initiated legislation, preferably before the opening of the regular session (September 1)."

The current National Assembly Act only permits meetings held by gathering in the National Assembly, but going forward, it aims to allow meetings and voting online from home or office in emergencies. Secretary General Kim said, "Through overseas attach?s, we have confirmed that countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and France have already introduced remote voting systems in their legislatures," adding, "We must ensure that important bills or budgets are not left unpassed."

Earlier last month, it was revealed that Oh Young-hwan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, shook hands with a confirmed COVID-19 patient, causing the plenary session of the National Assembly to be delayed by about three hours. Dozens of lawmakers who had contact with Oh entered self-quarantine. Fortunately, Oh tested negative, but this incident clearly showed that the National Assembly could be shut down at any time due to COVID-19. With the recent rapid spread of COVID-19, the need for an emergency plan has grown even more.

For remote voting, it is expected that dedicated devices will be distributed to lawmakers. Secretary General Kim said, "Voting should be conducted through certified secure devices."

Last week, the Secretariat of the National Assembly also announced a bid for a contractor to establish an ontact (untact+on) meeting system for the standing committee meeting rooms. The Secretariat explained the project background as "the need to establish a non-face-to-face meeting system to reduce crowding in standing committee meeting rooms as a countermeasure against the prolonged COVID-19 situation" and "to improve administrative efficiency by reducing travel expenses through remote attendance of cabinet members and administrative staff." The budget is approximately 293 million KRW, and the project period is three months.

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