They Said It Was a Working National Assembly... But Both Parties Rushed to Flood 'Populist Bills'

Differentiated from the 20th National Assembly but Old Habits Persist in Bill Proposals
Proliferation of 'Populist Support' Bills Without Cost Estimates
Criticized for 'Equity' and 'Financial Burden' in Review Reports

On the morning of the 7th, a reporter from a news agency entering the National Assembly was confirmed positive for COVID-19, putting the National Assembly on high alert once again. This is the third confirmed case since the first resident staff member tested positive at the end of last month. The National Assembly plans to partially close the main building and the Communication Office this afternoon to conduct disinfection. The photo shows the National Assembly on that day. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hye-min] In the 21st National Assembly, vote-conscious populist bills are being proposed without fail. Although it opened with the promise of differentiating itself from the 20th National Assembly, which was infamous as the worst legislature, criticisms have emerged that it is repeating old habits in bill proposals following the acceleration of partisan conflicts.

The 21st National Assembly, which began its term on May 30, has proposed a total of 4,428 bills as of the 6th. Among these are many populist bills, such as those mandating government funding to secure votes in constituencies or bills favoring certain groups to gain electoral support despite lacking fairness.

All these bills involve national budgets but skip the procedure of submitting cost estimates detailing the scale of funding, instead requesting cost estimates from the National Assembly Budget Office. A veteran official who has long served in the National Assembly said, "In reality, provisions created for exceptional cases like urgent bill submissions are being exploited to flood the legislature with showy populist bills."

For example, lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties representing rural constituencies have consecutively proposed bills requiring the state to compensate the difference when agricultural product prices fall below production costs or reference prices. This effectively makes the minimum price guarantee system for agricultural products, which is implemented at the local government level, supported by the state, citing the poor financial condition of local governments as justification.

The relevant standing committee, while agreeing on the need for government-level institutional improvements in its review report, expressed concerns about side effects. It pointed out that unintended derivative effects, such as production concentrating on items with guaranteed minimum prices, were not considered. The report also noted that if such direct price support policies are legally enforced while measures to stabilize farm income through voluntary production and shipment adjustments are underway, the market’s autonomous supply-demand adjustment function and incentives could be weakened.

Support bills for senior citizen centers targeting the elderly were also proposed without fail. Currently, senior centers receive subsidies for grain purchases, heating and cooling costs, and reductions in public utility fees such as electricity. In addition, a bill has been proposed to expand maintenance and repair cost support, which currently applies only to senior centers established by local governments, to all such facilities.

Many bills proposing direct cash support to specific groups or organizations were also introduced. Lawmakers from both sides representing rural constituencies proposed bills to provide a monthly public interest allowance of 100,000 KRW to farmers and fishermen or to introduce a basic pension system for them. As pointed out in the National Assembly’s review report, a similar public interest direct payment system has been implemented since this year, and there are concerns about overlapping support with the basic pension for seniors aged 65 and over, but these issues were overlooked.

Bills proposing various allowances to Saemaul Undong organizations and their leaders were alternately introduced by both ruling and opposition parties, but the Ministry of Strategy and Finance pointed out in the standing committee’s review report that "there has never been a case of paying separate work allowances to private organizations," criticizing the bills as unfair.

Bills to raise the veterans’ honor allowance paid to veterans aged 65 and over above the minimum cost of living were also proposed by both ruling and opposition parties, but they have been criticized for being unfair. If passed, the veterans’ honor allowance would exceed the compensation and allowances for disabled veterans who suffered physical sacrifices or for those recognized for distinguished service. The National Assembly’s review report stated, "This undermines the principle of differentiated veterans’ compensation based on the degree of sacrifice and contribution," and warned that "it could lead to demands for overall increases in veterans’ benefits, placing a burden on national finances."

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