Seoyoungkyo: "Substitute Holidays, a Livelihood Bill Fully Undergoing Legal Procedures and Supported by 72.5% of the Public"... Rebutting Criticism of Hasty Processing

On the 24th, Seo Young-kyo, Chair of the Public Administration Committee, systematically refuted criticisms of 'hasty review and exclusion of workplaces with fewer than five employees'

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] When the People Power Party and the Justice Party raised issues such as 'hasty processing and exclusion of businesses with fewer than five employees' regarding the substitute holiday bill that passed the National Assembly standing committee, Seo Young-kyo, the chairman of the Administrative Safety Committee, who is in charge of the committee, directly responded by stating, "This is a bill that has fully undergone legal procedures including over a year of deliberation, public opinion gathering, and three in-depth discussions."

Seo Young-kyo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking during the government economic inquiry held at the National Assembly plenary session on the 20th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the afternoon of the 24th, Chairman Seo held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and said, "As the chairman of the Administrative Safety Committee, I will provide fact-checking and explain the bill review process," first rebutting the opposition party's criticism of 'hasty processing.'

Chairman Seo cited research results from the Hyundai Research Institute, emphasizing, "The consumption expenditure for one substitute holiday is estimated at 2.1 trillion won, the induced production amount is 4.2 trillion won, the induced added value is 1.63 trillion won, and the employment increase effect is 36,000 people. Therefore, the Public Holiday Act is a livelihood bill aimed at revitalizing the economy."

He explained, "This year, Memorial Day, Liberation Day, and National Foundation Day fall on Sundays, and Hangeul Day and Christmas fall on Saturdays. As a result, the remaining four public holidays will disappear, so we deeply discussed the bill to designate substitute holidays starting from the upcoming Liberation Day and passed it yesterday."

However, members of the People Power Party's Administrative Safety Committee criticized the bill at a press conference the previous day, saying it was 'only discussed for three hours' and called it hasty processing. Chairman Seo pointed out that this claim was unfounded.

He rebutted, "The Public Holiday Act was jointly proposed by eight lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties, gathering opinions from various sectors and fully undergoing legal procedures. In the opposition, three lawmakers including Whip Park Wan-soo, Kim Seong-won, and Ha Young-je proposed it, and in the ruling party, five lawmakers including myself, Kang Byung-won, Jeong Cheong-rae, Min Hyung-bae, and Hong Ik-pyo proposed it. The bill was first proposed in June last year, and official discussions began with the National Assembly Administrative Safety Committee's review report."

Chairman Seo explained, "After about a year of deliberation, public opinion was formed in May. This is because there will be no public holidays for four months until the upcoming Chuseok holiday after Buddha's Birthday ends." He added, "Therefore, in early June, I as the chairman of the Administrative Safety Committee, along with ruling party whip Park Jae-ho and opposition whip Park Wan-soo, agreed to discuss the Public Holiday Act."

Chairman Seo also emphasized that the substitute holiday law sufficiently reflected public opinion.

He said, "At the suggestion of opposition party 1st Subcommittee whip Lee Myung-soo, a public opinion survey was conducted on the 11th and 12th (by T-Bridge Corporation, targeting 1,012 people aged 18 and over, with a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level). The survey showed that 72.5% of the public agreed with the additional introduction of substitute holidays," adding, "70% agreed with the question that it would help boost domestic demand."

He also highlighted that a public hearing on the bill was held on the 16th to gather and reflect opinions from various sectors. Chairman Seo said, "The Public Holiday Act public hearing was conducted with the agreement of the Administrative Safety Committee's administrative office, the chairman's office, and the ruling and opposition whip offices to have three testimonies representing support, opposition, and neutrality from business, labor, and legislative research institutes." He added, "We also listened to various opinions from the Small Business Federation, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Korea Federation of SMEs, which were included in the bill subcommittee review materials."

He emphasized, "The Small Business Federation supported this bill," and noted, "There were also requests to consider support for difficulties in management due to COVID-19."

He further stated that in-depth discussions were held at the bill subcommittee meetings on the 16th, 17th, and 22nd, saying, "The bill was reviewed three times before being passed."

Regarding the criticism that businesses with fewer than five employees were excluded, he addressed each point.

Chairman Seo said, "Businesses with fewer than five employees are not excluded but are subject to voluntary application," adding, "The Administrative Safety Committee agreed to create a bill expanding substitute holidays, but matters concerning businesses with fewer than five employees should be discussed under the jurisdiction of the Environment and Labor Committee's Labor Standards Act." He continued, "There were many opinions that industries such as travel, accommodation, tourism, transportation, and restaurants, which must operate economically even on public holidays, should apply the law voluntarily."

He reiterated, "The Public Holiday Act has been deliberated for over a year since June last year and discussed in depth three times," emphasizing, "Public holidays have value in increasing economic effects. I will do my best to ensure it is applied more widely to more people."

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