Abolishing the "Plant Committee" That Holds Meetings Only Three Times a Year

Rep. Noh Yong-ho of the People Power Party Proposes Amendment
Sets Expiration Date for Administrative Agencies Committee and Reviews Every 2 Years

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] As the government plans to reduce presidential advisory committees by up to 70%, legislative movements within the ruling party are also drawing attention.

On the 5th, President Yoon Suk-yeol presided over a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul, stating, "We will boldly reorganize presidential committees first to save the budget." The plan is to reduce the current 629 government committees by 30-50% and cut the 20 presidential advisory committees by 60-70%. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety also reported the 'Government Committee Reorganization Promotion Plan,' which includes reducing all government committees by more than 30%, to the Cabinet meeting.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the number of government committees has been increasing through successive administrations. During the Lee Myung-bak administration, there were 530 committees, which increased to 558 under the Park Geun-hye administration and 631 under the Moon Jae-in administration. As of last month, there are 629 committees.

In relation to this, the ruling party has proposed the "Partial Amendment to the Act on the Establishment and Operation of Committees Affiliated with Administrative Agencies." Recently, Representative Noh Yong-ho of the People Power Party submitted an amendment to prevent the proliferation of committees affiliated with administrative agencies and to strengthen operational substance.

According to Representative Noh, despite budget allocations, there are 71 "dormant committees" (11.4%) that have not held any meetings for a year, and nearly half, 310 committees, have held three or fewer meetings.

In response, Representative Noh has taken the lead in proposing an amendment that sets a fixed term for all administrative agency committees, which currently only applies exceptionally to some, and requires a review of their continuation every two years. Representative Noh stated, "I hope this amendment will improve the issue of unnecessary committee proliferation, and I will lead institutional improvements so that the administrative agency committees under the Yoon Suk-yeol government can be reborn not as 'positions for sharing seats' but as genuine 'working think tanks' for the people."

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