Professor Kim Jong-seok Appointed as Head of Yoon Administration's 'Economic Regulation Innovation TF' Team

-Yoon leads domestic top regulatory reform advocates in 'sandbag' reform... Focused on 'regulatory reform' even during his time as a lawmaker
-Professor Kim Jong-seok: "We must first address regulations that have lost their basis in an era of changing markets and technology"

Kim Jong-seok, Distinguished Professor at SUNY Korea, appointed as head of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's 'Economic Regulatory Innovation Task Force (TF)' team

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] It has been confirmed that Kim Jong-seok, a distinguished professor at SUNY Korea and former head of the People Power Party’s Yeouido Research Institute, has been appointed as the team leader of the government’s ‘Economic Regulatory Innovation Task Force (TF).’ The Economic Regulatory Innovation TF is an organization launched by the government in line with President Yoon Seok-yeol’s directive to reform the ‘sandbag’ regulations, and it is scheduled to be inaugurated within this month. Professor Kim is a leading domestic advocate for regulatory reform who has directly and indirectly advised President Yoon from the early stages of the last presidential election through the Presidential Transition Committee. In a phone interview with Asia Economy, Professor Kim outlined the future direction of the Regulatory Innovation TF, stating, “We need to first address regulations that have lost their basis in this era of changing markets and evolving technologies.”

A presidential office official said on the 20th, “(Professor Kim) is the top expert in regulatory economics in Korea and has engaged in various activities in the National Assembly to abolish regulations,” adding, “We expect that, together with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho, he will effectively resolve regulatory reform tasks by ministry as well as corporate demands in line with government policy directions.”

Professor Kim graduated from Seoul National University’s Department of Economics and served as head of the Saenuri Party’s (the predecessor of the People Power Party) Yeouido Research Institute. He was a member of the 20th National Assembly and served on the Emergency Committee of the Liberty Korea Party, consistently advocating for deregulation. During the Park Geun-hye administration, he also served as chairman of the Economic Subcommittee of the Presidential Regulatory Reform Committee. He held the position of vice chairman of the Economic and Social Committee in the People Power Party’s Central Election Committee and is a member of the ‘Economic and Social Research Institute,’ which is recognized as a talent pool for the Yoon administration.

During his time as a lawmaker, he took the lead in proposing amendments to the National Assembly Act that made regulatory impact assessments mandatory for regulatory bills to prevent the introduction of excessive and poor regulations. He also spearheaded the amendment to the ‘Corporate Restructuring Promotion Act,’ which grants immunity to corporate restructuring practitioners. These initiatives align with President Yoon’s ongoing emphasis since taking office on easing the ‘sandbags’ burdening companies.

Professor Kim has planned to make the Regulatory Innovation TF a driving force for economic growth under the new government. In the interview, he said, “Given President Yoon’s strong will, together with Deputy Prime Minister Choo, we will meticulously review the regulatory reform plans established by each ministry and provide support that can raise public consensus. Until now, the process involved private sector proposals and judgments by recipients, but now we will evaluate the necessity of maintaining regulations from the private sector’s perspective.”

He intends to first examine ‘regulations that fail to keep up with the times.’ Since the factors that justified the introduction of regulations at the time have now disappeared, regulations must also change, according to Professor Kim’s assessment. The areas expected to be addressed first by the government include advanced industry regulations, such as graduate school enrollment quotas, and economic laws like the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and the Minimum Wage Act.

The presidential office and government ministries also expect that, with Professor Kim leading the Regulatory Innovation TF, the ‘sandbags’ felt by companies will be removed. Recently, he personally participated in a senior public officials training session organized to share the Yoon administration’s national agenda, delivering a lecture on regulatory innovation strategies to over 1,100 officials at the director and bureau chief level from various ministries. A senior government official said, “The economic agenda of the current administration is fundamentally to vigorously pursue regulatory innovation until all core regulations are abolished,” adding, “Professor Kim will focus intensively on outcomes that can enhance market awareness by leading public-private joint efforts and strategic meetings.”

As President Yoon’s directive to establish regulatory reform tasks by ministry is progressing rapidly, Professor Kim is expected to coordinate detailed directions with each ministry soon. According to our confirmation, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is conducting a cost-benefit analysis of newly introduced or strengthened regulations within ministry legislation and has selected this as an improvement task for discussion. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has reported to the presidential office its intention to identify multi-ministry and multi-legislation regulations such as ‘bulk regulations’ and ‘mitigation of penalties for businesspersons.’ Additionally, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, which should lead the new government’s regulatory reform efforts, has initiated the enactment of a special law to establish a system for ‘improving productivity of small and medium enterprises’ beyond deregulation. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism are developing concrete messaging plans to inform the entire nation about the government’s comprehensive regulatory innovation plan.

A presidential office official stated, “Not only will ministers directly participate in the Regulatory Innovation TF, but various private organizations such as the Korea Development Institute, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Korea Federation of SMEs, and Korea Venture Business Association will also be involved,” adding, “Based on the know-how accumulated so far, we will swiftly lead the new government’s regulatory reform.”

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