"Lift the Regulations," Park Yong-man Pleads Until the End of His Term

KCCI-Democratic Party to Hold 'Policy Meeting' on the Morning of the 28th
"Service Development Act, Industrial Convergence Promotion Act, and Others Must Be Passed in the February Extraordinary Session"
Democratic Party: "Sandbox 3 Acts and Other Bills Reviewed for Safety and Business Feasibility to Be Passed in February"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Park Yong-man, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (photo), met with the ruling party on the 28th to urge the enactment of corporate regulatory reform bills such as the Framework Act on Service Industry Development and the Act on Promotion of Industrial Convergence. This was to request that the National Assembly, which is passing various regulatory bills including the three corporate regulation laws and the Serious Accident Punishment Act, also prepare incentives for corporate management activities.

On the same day, Chairman Park held a policy meeting with the Democratic Party's Regulatory Innovation Promotion Team at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry building in Jung-gu, Seoul, stating, "I hope that long-pending bills with significant impact on the nation and society, as well as bills that can enhance industrial rejuvenation?especially important impactful bills such as the Framework Act on Service Industry Development, the Act on Promotion of Industrial Convergence, and the Framework Act on National Spatial Information?will definitely be legislated." He proposed 32 innovation legislative tasks. The meeting was held as the ruling party expressed its intention to focus on economic innovation during the February extraordinary session of the National Assembly and actively reflect voices from the field, while the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry hoped that laws hindering innovation would be resolved through this opportunity. Present at the meeting were Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader and head of the Democratic Party's Regulatory Innovation Team, along with 10 senior ruling party lawmakers, and eight representatives from large, medium, small, and startup companies, including Chairman Park.

In his opening remarks, Chairman Park said, "One of our important duties now is to create new sources of growth and employment opportunities," adding, "For this, companies need to actively launch new businesses, but outdated laws and systems from the industrialization era are acting as obstacles."

He then proposed four types of legislative tasks to the Democratic Party. The first is the handling of long-pending bills. He emphasized, "It was during the 18th National Assembly that we proposed enacting the Framework Act on Service Industry Development because growth and employment cannot be sustained by manufacturing alone," and added, "It has been pending in the National Assembly for over 10 years, so I hope it will be legislated in the February session."

The second is innovation in laws and systems to enhance industrial rejuvenation. Chairman Park said, "While there is active demand for new industries in the market, the ‘positive regulation system’ that only allows what is legally defined and the ‘past technology-based legal system’ that does not recognize these as new technologies are blocking progress," and urged, "Due to conflicts of interest and regulatory gaps causing anxiety, related legal system reforms have been continuously delayed, so I hope for a swift resolution." He stressed that along with major bills, the Medical Technicians Act, Health Functional Foods Act, and Special Act on Domestic Workers must also be legislated during this opportunity.

He also mentioned that innovative bills verified through the sandbox should have their regulations amended to allow permanent business operations, or if further verification is needed, the ‘temporary special period’ should be automatically extended. Lastly, Chairman Park said, "It would be good to proactively establish a so-called ‘sandbox immunity system’ that provides exceptional immunity to public officials who grant temporary approvals through the regulatory sandbox," urging legislation to encourage proactive administration by public officials.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has decided to process bills reviewed for safety and business feasibility through the sandbox within the February extraordinary session. The targets include the three sandbox-related bills, the Special Act on Domestic Workers, the Personal Information Protection Act related to autonomous driving robots, the Act on Promotion of Drone Utilization and the Aviation Safety Act related to drones, the Road Traffic Act related to mobile driver’s license issuance, and a total of 19 bills. The Framework Act on Service Industry Development is also included.

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