National Assembly Semiconductor Support Fully Launched... Yoo Ui-dong Appointed as Chair of Advanced Special Committee

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The National Assembly's Special Committee on Advanced Strategic Industries, which will discuss support and development plans for national advanced strategic industries including semiconductors, took its first step on the 22nd.

The Special Measures Act on Strengthening and Protecting the Competitiveness of National Advanced Strategic Industries, known as the "Semiconductor Special Act," passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 11th. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

The Special Committee on Advanced Strategic Industries held its first plenary meeting at the National Assembly on the same day and appointed Yoo Ui-dong, a member of the People Power Party, as the chairman. Also, the floor leaders from both ruling and opposition parties are Kim Seong-won of the People Power Party and Lee Won-wook of the Democratic Party of Korea, respectively.

The Special Committee will discuss support and development plans for national advanced strategic industries such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and displays. While major countries like Taiwan and the United States have activated semiconductor support by providing a 25% tax credit on research and facility investment costs for semiconductor companies, there have been criticisms that domestic legislative and tax support to enhance the competitiveness of semiconductor companies is insufficient. With the operation of the Special Committee, expectations are rising that support for industries including semiconductors will expand.

The chairman and the floor leaders from both parties emphasized during the meeting that they will strive to ensure the Special Committee has legislative authority. Kim, the ruling party floor leader, said, “Generally, if a special committee does not have legislative authority, it ends up being just a feast of words. Both parties should ensure the best possible legislative authority.” In response, Lee, the opposition floor leader, agreed, saying, “I have been on special committees several times, and if there is no actual legislative authority, it only issues reports and ends. Especially with sensitive issues like tax matters, if agreements made here are ignored in the tax subcommittee, it is meaningless.” Chairman Yoo said, “Regarding securing legislative authority, I ask the floor leaders to seek the opinions of the leadership of both parties. I will also visit and discuss this to reach an agreement between the party leaders.”

Earlier, controversy arose during the appointment process of the Special Committee members when Yang Hyang-ja, an independent lawmaker formerly from Samsung Electronics and who served as the chairman of the ruling party’s semiconductor special committee, was excluded.

For the non-negotiating group quota, independent lawmaker Min Hyung-bae, who left the Democratic Party, was included. Min did not attend the meeting on the day.

Meanwhile, Jang Hye-young of the Justice Party held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office on the same day, opposing semiconductor industry support, stating, “A conglomerate-tailored tax cut that could range from at least 4 trillion to 10 trillion won means a reduction in resources that should be used for the people, and the corresponding decrease in tax revenue inevitably leads to a qualitative decline in public services and social safety nets.”

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