Tattered 'Serious Accident Punishment Act'... Criticized by Business Community, People Power Party, and Justice Party Alike

Repeated Revisions in Stakeholder Tug-of-War
Son Kyung-sik Visits National Assembly to Request Suspension of Legislation

Kang Eun-mi, Floor Leader of the Justice Party, Kim Mi-sook, mother of the late Kim Yong-gyun and Chairperson of the Kim Yong-gyun Foundation, and Lee Yong-gwan, father of the late PD Lee Han-bit, are picketing in front of the National Assembly Judiciary Committee Bill Review Subcommittee 1 meeting room on the morning of the 29th, urging the enactment of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Sung Ki-ho] As the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (Serious Accidents Act) has returned from the ruling party to the government and back to the National Assembly, it has become a 'patchwork law' that neither the ruling nor opposition parties, nor the business or labor sectors want. This is because the government tried to reflect all the sharply divided interests in the bill, resulting in a law that is neither here nor there.

Immediately, the business community expressed great concern, fearing that the Democratic Party might start discussions based on the government’s proposal. The Democratic Party, which holds the key to passing the bill, stated that the final version has not yet been decided and that discussions will continue, but the likelihood of producing a third alternative that satisfies all stakeholders seems low.

On the morning of the 29th, Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, made an urgent visit to the National Assembly to convey business leaders’ concerns about the government’s Serious Accidents Act proposal. Major economic organizations also prepared statements immediately after the government’s proposal was submitted to the National Assembly the day before, putting their final efforts into blocking the bill. At 9 a.m. that day, Chairman Sohn met with Baek Hye-ryun, a Democratic Party lawmaker who is the chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s bill review subcommittee and the ruling party’s secretary on the committee, requesting a halt to the enactment of the Serious Accidents Act, saying, “The government’s revised proposal still seems to punish management officials for accidents that cannot be held accountable.”

Seo Seung-won, executive vice president of the Korea Federation of SMEs, pointed out, “The law should prevent accidents, but although some provisions have been moderated, it still contains only one-sided punishment, which could turn into a law that unfairly vents frustration on companies.” Jeon Seung-tae, industrial safety team leader at the Korea Employers Federation, said, “We are monitoring the discussions in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s bill review subcommittee and plan to prepare active countermeasures.”

However, the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee is working to finalize the bill based on the government’s proposal. They held the first bill review subcommittee meeting that morning to continue the review. Although no conclusion was reached during the review on the 24th and only consensus was formed, the submission of the government’s proposal, which has completed inter-ministerial consultations, is expected to accelerate discussions. The Democratic Party aims to pass the law by January 8 next year. The opposition party also has complaints about the government’s proposal. The People Power Party, which boycotted the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 24th citing the bill’s unconstitutionality and the absence of a unified proposal within the Democratic Party, announced that it will attend the meeting to scrutinize the problems of the government’s proposal point by point. The Justice Party, which demands processing according to the originally proposed bill, refuses to cooperate with the Democratic Party.

Accordingly, the Democratic Party faces the task of preparing the optimal bill by comprehensively considering the government’s proposal and the existing lawmakers’ proposals. Given the composition of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, unilateral passage is possible. However, the political burden of unilateral passage is expected to be considerable, making it difficult to predict the outlook.

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