Mid-sized Enterprises Association Urges Swift Legal Reforms to Boost New Technology Industry

Korea Institute for Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] It has been argued that in order to revitalize the domestic new technology industry, the government must actively undertake the roles of rapid legal revision and continuous consultation and coordination.

On the 21st, the Small and Medium Business Venture Research Institute stated this in a report titled "Policy Implications of the Regulatory Sandbox System Implementation and the Government's New Role." Researcher Kwon-sik Kim of the institute pointed out, "The speed of technological advancement in the 4th Industrial Revolution is so fast that existing laws and systems cannot keep up," adding, "As a result, institutional delays that hinder technological development frequently occur."

This year marks the 4th year since the implementation of the regulatory sandbox. This system suspends or exempts existing regulations under certain conditions to support innovation in new technology fields. Currently, under the overall coordination of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, six systems are operated by five ministries.

The report emphasized "rapid legal revision" as the government's new responsibility in response to the 4th Industrial Revolution era. It pointed out that due to the positive regulation application method, existing regulations and laws do not support the speed of technological advancement in new technologies and new industries, often resulting in insufficient or inappropriate legal grounds. To institutionally support such rapid technological progress, continuous monitoring of regulatory laws related to new technologies and the establishment of a close cooperative system among ministries are necessary.

The report identified "continuous consultation and coordination" as the government's second role in revitalizing the new technology industry. Researcher Kim explained, "In new technology fields such as personal medical information utilization and telemedicine, it is difficult to ease or abolish regulatory laws due to conflicts of interest and disputes among ministries and organizations," adding, "In fact, it is very difficult to obtain agreement from ministries, stakeholders, and organizations during the special exception granting process for the regulatory sandbox or subsequent regulatory improvement processes."

Researcher Kim also emphasized, "Regulatory laws in new technology fields often involve multiple ministries simultaneously, making it difficult to apply the regulatory sandbox and improve related regulatory laws," and added, "To ultimately resolve regulatory issues raised through the regulatory sandbox, it is necessary to establish institutional devices that can smoothly lead inter-ministerial collaboration for regulatory improvement and to continuously consult and coordinate."

He further stated, "There is a need for incentives to encourage ministries in charge of regulatory laws to cooperate more actively with regulatory improvement requests," and "Related systems that drive public officials' efforts for regulatory improvement should also be strengthened."

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