[Inside Chodong] "Next Year Is Also Uncertain"... Financial Bills Swayed by the Political Calendar

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] "When the enforcement decree was to be created after the bill's passage, I expected it to be quite complicated due to the involvement of various stakeholders. But I never imagined that the bill itself would have difficulty passing."

This is a complaint voiced by a senior official in the financial sector whom I met privately a few days ago. He criticized the fact that the Electronic Financial Transactions Act amendment (Jeongeumbeop), which has been dormant in the National Assembly for a year, has not even taken its first step toward discussion.

The Jeongeumbeop aims to grant platform operators like Naver and Kakao the qualification of comprehensive payment service providers, allowing them to issue accounts to users like banks do. The fintech industry insists it must be passed. On the other hand, traditional financial institutions express reluctance. The involvement of government ministries makes the interests even more complex.

While the controversy is heated outside, it is actually being ignored in the National Assembly. The relevant standing committee, the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, has submitted the Jeongeumbeop to the bill review subcommittee several times since March, but the bill has never been discussed even once.

The situation is similar for other financial bills. The ‘Insurance Actual Expense Processing Computerization’ bill has been drifting for 13 years, already extending beyond this year. The ‘Insurance Business Act Amendment,’ which allows some simple insurance complaints to be handled by private associations, was also proposed earlier this year but has seen little discussion.

The problem is the concern that the drifting of financial bills will be prolonged further. Next year’s political schedule is not easy. In the first quarter of next year, it is highly likely that bill discussions themselves will be difficult. Each political party will have no choice but to focus all their efforts on the presidential election scheduled for March. In June, local elections will be held. Although local elections are not as significant as general elections, they are a ‘peak season’ for lawmakers. They must focus on the election to support the nomination and election of local councilors and heads of local governments running in their constituencies. From a lawmaker’s perspective, local elections, where they hold direct or indirect nomination rights, offer a better opportunity to increase their influence in their constituencies than general elections. Some senior lawmakers who could raise their voices in bill discussions may even run directly for metropolitan government head elections.

After June, it will be ‘the time of political parties.’ Parties defeated in the presidential and local elections will reorganize internally by appointing new party leaders and floor leaders to manage the confusion. The winning party will also restructure its system to align with the new power. If even one of the two major parties in the National Assembly has not completed internal reorganization, bill discussions will effectively be suspended. As time passes this way, the National Assembly audit season will come, and once the audit ends, budget review will begin immediately. Since it is the first audit and budget review of the new government, clashes between the ruling and opposition parties are inevitable.

In the case of contentious bills, interests are intertwined like a tangled thread. Therefore, it is well understood that simply passing contentious bills quickly is not the solution. However, it is more concerning that due to the political schedule, major bills are not even being discussed and there is a high possibility they will be hastily passed under public pressure. If bills pass in this state, amid divided opinions, they may only provoke opposition from all parties involved. Lawmakers must conduct in-depth discussions on the entire bill and listen to diverse opinions. They must not make the mistake of missing the golden time for financial innovation due to political calculations. To reiterate, in the case of the Jeongeumbeop mentioned earlier, there has not been a single review in the bill review subcommittee.

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