Yoon Government Selects First Top 10 National Proposals... Which Suggestions Will Be Addressed in Policy?

Strengthened Penalties for Dog Bite Incidents and Introduction of K-Transport Pass Draw Attention... 'Gukmin Je-an Report' Also Released Weekly

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Presidential Office's National Proposal Review Committee has selected the top 10 excellent proposals that can be discussed for policy implementation. Representative proposals, including strengthening penalties for dog bite incidents involving companion dogs, the introduction of the 'K-Transportation Pass' allowing unlimited public transportation rides for 9,900 won, and the abolition of mandatory closures for large supermarkets, were finally selected through online voting and other methods. These outstanding proposals will be actively promoted to be reflected in national policy.

The committee reviewed complaints, proposals, and petitions submitted online (about 9,000 cases) and offline (about 3,000 cases) since the 23rd of last month. The committee consists of 11 private and public experts, with Huh Seong-woo, the National Proposal Secretary of the Presidential Office, serving as the standing chairman.

As a result of selecting the 'Top 10' from the national proposals, the proposals included strengthening penalties for pet owners and euthanasia measures in response to the 'Ulsan dog bite incident,' abolition of mandatory closures for large supermarkets, differentiated minimum wage application by industry and occupation, and standardization of cataract surgery insurance payment criteria. Notable proposals also included the 'K-Transportation Pass,' which allows unlimited use of public transportation for 9,900 won per month, and the mandatory attachment of a tax payment certificate by tenants when signing lease contracts.

However, many parts still require discussion for policy implementation. The strengthening of penalties for dog bite incidents is currently under debate regarding its appropriateness, and although differentiated minimum wage application is an issue mentioned by President Yoon Suk-yeol, the Minimum Wage Commission rejected its introduction last month. In response, a Presidential Office official said, "It is about asking for opinions once more," adding, "Since it is done by the Presidential Office, it will carefully consider public opinion before making any proposals to related ministries or the National Assembly."

When asked whether excellent proposals are selected based on the preferences of the review committee members, the committee explained, "The previous administration used quantitative criteria (consent from more than 200,000 people), but that quantitative approach could involve prejudice and irrationality," adding, "We decided to conduct qualitative evaluation first and then reflect quantitative evaluation later." Regarding the criteria for selecting the top 10, they said, "Experts selected proposals that require institutional improvement based on criteria such as daily life relevance and urgency," and added, "We will not conduct quantitative evaluations like who received the most online support, so we hope people trust the expertise and sincerity."

The committee plans to conduct an online public vote on the National Proposal website for ten days starting from the 21st to select the top 3 excellent proposals, which will then be actively recommended for reflection in national policy.

Additionally, a 'National Proposal Report' that reports the contents proposed by the public and the processing results will be uploaded weekly. This is to help the public understand by analyzing the number of proposals received and processing results through big data. For excellent corporate proposals, from the 23rd of last month to the 11th, proposals focusing on ▲unnecessary regulation reform and ▲corporate-centered economic revitalization for overcoming economic difficulties were intensively collected from small business owners, startups, small and medium enterprises, and large corporations (hereafter referred to as So, Su, Jung, Dae), receiving about 700 proposals.

The National Proposal Secretary's Office stated, "We will do our best to utilize the valuable proposals given by the public during these difficult times to overcome economic difficulties and prepare practical solutions to be reflected in national policy," adding, "We will continuously develop the functions of the National Proposal website so that not a single valuable opinion from the public is wasted, and we will conduct online and offline events regularly to directly hear the voices of the people.”

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