The Last Plenary Session of the Year... Delays in Passing Economic Laws Including the Virtual Asset Act

10,256 Bills Pending in the National Assembly Plenary Session
Pending in Standing Committees such as the Committee on Political Affairs, Industry and Economy, and Budget and Accounts

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] '13,256 cases.'

As of the 28th, when the last plenary session of this year is expected to be held, this is still the number of bills pending passage in the 21st National Assembly. Although some agenda items, including the arrest motion for Representative No Woong-rae, will be discussed at the plenary session on that day, these bills will not be processed within the year and will have to wait for next year's National Assembly again. While the ruling and opposition parties are distracted by political strife, major livelihood and economic bills are essentially sleeping in the National Assembly.

According to the National Assembly Bill Information System, as of this afternoon, there are 13,256 bills pending across all standing committees in the National Assembly. The Administrative Safety Committee has the most pending bills at 1,850, followed by the Health and Welfare Committee (1,530), the Legislation and Judiciary Committee (1,346), the Planning and Finance Committee (1,320), and the Political Affairs Committee (1,204).

The Environment and Labor Committee (1,065) and the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee (1,031) each have over 1,000 pending bills, while the Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups Committee (650), the Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee (577), the Education Committee (612), and the Science, Technology, Information and Communications Committee (537) also have more than 500 bills pending.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The main reason these bills are pending without reaching the plenary session is the failure to reach an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties. In the Political Affairs Committee, which oversees the entire financial industry, representative bills such as the Virtual Asset Act (Digital Asset Basic Act) and the Samsung Life Act (amendment to the Insurance Business Act) are pending.

The Virtual Asset Act is a bill to legally define virtual assets and establish measures for industry promotion and investor protection. The Samsung Life Act aims to evaluate insurance companies' affiliate stock holdings at market value and limit the holding amount to 3% of total assets. However, both have only been discussed in the standing committee without any progress.

The 'Partial Amendment to the Act on the Recovery of Excessive Profits from Reconstruction' that reduces reconstruction burdens for long-term holders and the 'TK New Airport Special Act' to build an integrated new airport in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk (TK) region are also pending in the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee.

The reconstruction excess profit recovery bill was led by ruling party lawmakers who proposed three similar bills, but all remain pending, and despite the need for a 'second central airport' being raised due to North Korean drone infiltrations, the special act for the new airport remains uncertain for passage within the year.

In the Industry and Trade Committee, 17 bills amending the Distribution Industry Development Act are pending. Among these, 14 were proposed two years ago, two last year, and one this year. Notably, as Daegu City recently changed the mandatory closure days for large marts to weekdays, Representative Choi Seung-jae's bill allowing local governments to adjust mandatory closure days has not seen progress for over a year.

Also, while the government is calling for the restoration of the nuclear power ecosystem, the 'Special Act on the Management Facilities for High-Level Radioactive Waste' to establish a disposal site for high-level radioactive waste from domestic nuclear power plants remains pending with little progress in discussions between the ruling and opposition parties.

The 'National Finance Act Amendment,' which aims to introduce fiscal rules supporting President Yoon Seok-yeol's 'sound fiscal policy,' is also pending in the Planning and Finance Committee. This bill was proposed by Park Dae-chul, the chairman of the National Assembly Planning and Finance Committee and a member of the People Power Party, but discussions have not even started at the subcommittee level.

Fiscal rules are mechanisms to prevent a surge in national debt. In September, the government established fiscal rules that limit the management fiscal deficit ratio to within 2% if the national debt ratio exceeds 60%.

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