Utility Poles, Thorns, Stones... Yoon's Proposal to Remove 'Sandbags' He Brought Up

- Yoon: "All ministries are regulatory relief ministries... Boldly abolish regulations that hold us back"

- Former Presidents Lee Myung-bak’s utility poles and Park Geun-hye’s splinters under the fingernails, and stones in shoes symbolize the Yoon administration’s reform will

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy, Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] "It was like asking someone to win a medal while carrying a sandbag."

President Yoon Suk-yeol, during a luncheon with major economic organization heads last March when he was president-elect, used the expression "sandbag," symbolizing unnecessary and outdated regulations, and promised, "The new government will change the parts you struggled with according to common sense," pledging regulatory abolition.

It has been only about two months since President Yoon last mentioned the "sandbag." On the 30th, just 20 days after his inauguration, he likened regulations that block corporate investment to "sandbags" and emphasized, "I will personally step in to handle difficult and complex regulations." President Yoon believes that "under the recognition that all ministries are regulatory relief ministries, regulations that hold back corporate activities must be boldly abolished."

President Yoon’s regulatory reform rhetoric is not much different from the political slogans of regulatory reform under past conservative administrations. Former President Lee Myung-bak, during his president-elect period, pointed out that local governments and the central government ignored complaints from companies in the Mokpo Daebul Industrial Complex that large trailers had difficulty navigating curves due to utility poles, sparking regulatory reform efforts by calling it "pulling out utility poles."

Former President Park Geun-hye also criticized regulations during her president-elect period, saying, "To revive small and medium-sized enterprises, we need to remove the splinters under the fingernails rather than grand policies." Her administration frequently held regulatory reform ministerial meetings and made the "regulatory guillotine" an issue. The "stones in shoes" phrase mentioned by President Yoon during a meeting with six economic organization heads was also a slogan used during the Park administration to refer to unnecessary regulations. President Yoon said, "We will remove unnecessary regulations like stones in shoes so that companies can run vigorously for growth and job creation."

The Yoon administration’s determination to abolish regulations differs in tone from past governments. Previous conservative administrations faced conflicts during regulatory reform and pursued quantity over quality improvements, failing to achieve clear results. In contrast, President Yoon stated on this day, "I will personally step in to handle difficult and complex regulations." He emphasized, "Our companies find it hard to compete and run in the global market while carrying sandbags," and reiterated, "Under the recognition that all ministries are regulatory relief ministries, regulations that hold back corporate activities must be boldly abolished."

President Yoon said, "Shadow regulations such as administrative regulations unrelated to laws must be clearly improved, and regulations that can be handled by presidential decrees and ministerial ordinances among necessary legal improvements should be processed swiftly," adding, "For those requiring legal amendments, we must cooperate with the National Assembly to abolish regulations."

In March, during a meeting with six economic organization heads, President Yoon extended the originally scheduled 90-minute session to 150 minutes to communicate extensively. The closed-door meeting ended well past the scheduled 1 p.m., only concluding around 2 p.m. It is interpreted that the time was extended to exchange frank opinions on regulatory reform and labor-related regulatory bill improvements.

Following President Yoon’s regulatory reform pace, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo instructed on the 24th to form task forces (TFs) related to regulatory reform in 18 ministries. He said, "Ultimately, the will of the highest ruling authority is necessary for regulatory innovation," and added, "If the President maintains his will and steadily works for five years, there will definitely be results." Prime Minister Han also emphasized, "Although the Regulatory Reform Committee under the Office for Government Policy Coordination had co-chairs from the Prime Minister and the private sector, no government has achieved significant regulatory innovation results," and stressed, "The 'mass' (scope) responsible for and driving regulatory innovation must be larger. Now, all ministries must create regulatory innovation TFs."

On March 21, when he was president-elect, President Yoon Suk-yeol held a luncheon meeting with the heads of six economic organizations at the Presidential Transition Committee in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

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