Ruling and Opposition Parties Launch '2+2 Consultative Body on Livelihood Bills'... Different Dreams

Ruling and Opposition Parties, Floor Leaders and Policy Committee Hold First Meeting on the Afternoon of the 6th
Ruling Party Prioritizes San-eun Transfer Act and High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Act
Opposition Likely to Raise Local Love Gift Certificate Act and Banking Act

The ruling and opposition parties will activate a '2+2 consultative body' from the 6th to discuss livelihood bills to be processed in the last regular session of the 21st National Assembly. However, negotiations are expected to face difficulties as the People Power Party and the Democratic Party show differences over the priority livelihood bills.

According to the People Power Party on the 5th, the party's Policy Committee is currently discussing the agenda items to be handled by the consultative body. It is expected that bills discussed when Floor Leader Yoon Jae-ok proposed the formation of the consultative body or bills that could not be reconciled at the standing committee level and thus passed on to the floor leadership will be prioritized. A People Power Party official said, "Bills that are not currently going through the process of being handled according to the standing committee discussions but are difficult to pass due to differences between the ruling and opposition parties will be brought up (to the consultative body)."

Accordingly, the Industrial Bank Relocation Act (Political Affairs Committee), the High-Level Radioactive Waste Special Act, and the Distribution Industry Development Act (Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Venture Business Committee) are being mentioned as priority negotiation targets.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Industrial Bank Relocation Act, a campaign pledge of President Yoon Seok-yeol, was recently personally requested for passage within the year by Park Hyung-joon, Mayor of Busan, who visited the floor leaders of both parties. It was discussed at the Political Affairs Committee's bill subcommittee on the 21st of last month but failed to pass due to opposition from the opposition party. Kim Jong-min, the Democratic Party member and secretary of the Political Affairs Committee, argued at the subcommittee, "While the Industrial Bank is trying to expand globally in cooperation with various financial institutions, there is skepticism about whether it is being forced to move to Busan, losing the incentive of industrial agglomeration."

The High-Level Radioactive Waste Act and the Distribution Industry Act were not agreed upon between the ruling and opposition parties at the Industry Committee's bill subcommittee on the 22nd of last month and were passed on to the floor leadership. The High-Level Radioactive Waste Act includes provisions to establish a disposal site for permanently storing spent nuclear fuel that emits high levels of radioactivity. Both ruling and opposition lawmakers have proposed bills, but there have been disagreements over whether to limit the storage capacity of spent nuclear fuel to the design life of nuclear power plants (opposition) or to allow for extension if the plant's life is extended (ruling party).

The amendment to the Distribution Industry Development Act, which allows online delivery during nighttime or mandatory closure days when large marts are restricted from operating, also faced ongoing differences between the parties and was ultimately handed over to the floor leadership. The ruling party supports the bill, emphasizing regulatory reform for the convenience of the public, while the opposition has opposed it, arguing that the organizations participating in the agreement lack representativeness and that traditional markets would inevitably be harmed.

Opposition: "Not a Livelihood Bill but a 'Bill Needed by the Ruling Party'"

The Democratic Party clearly opposed the ruling party's priority bills. At the party's floor countermeasure meeting held at the National Assembly that day, Policy Committee Chair Lee Gae-ho stated, "We propose that the People Power Party promptly activate the consultative body as promised to process livelihood bills," but also pointed out, "The livelihood bills that the ruling party intends to process, as confirmed through the media, are somewhat strange. They are not true livelihood bills but rather 'People Power Party-style livelihood bills' needed by the ruling party."

Chair Lee then mentioned the following as urgent livelihood bills to be processed: ▲ the 'Bank Act' that strengthens the right to request interest rate reductions and prohibits banks from passing legal costs onto financial consumers ▲ the 'Local Love Gift Certificate Activation Act' that administratively and financially supports the issuance of local currency by the state ▲ and the 'Three Small Business Acts' to provide energy support to small business owners and grounds for temporary loan repayment deferral and rent support upon business closure.

The Three Small Business Acts were proposed through the Democratic Party's Economic Crisis Response Center meetings. On March 6, Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok proposed an amendment to the Small Business Protection and Support Act to provide small business owners with energy support funds worth 400,000 won, and the next day, on the 7th, the Economic Crisis Response Center, including leader Lee Jae-myung, held an on-site meeting at a sauna in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, to announce the 'Small Business Energy Support Act.'

On the 28th of last month, the Industry Committee subcommittee held the first discussion on the amendment to the Small Business Protection and Support Act, which deals with temporary loan repayment deferral upon small business closure. The government side expressed, "We agree with the intent, but it is better to operate flexibly under internal regulations," and "We do not agree on the necessity of elevating it to a law," and decided to continue the subcommittee review.

The amendment to the Bank Act, which strengthens the right to request interest rate reductions (Political Affairs Committee), was proposed by lawmakers from both parties but has only been referred to the subcommittee and has not yet been debated. Regarding the Local Love Gift Certificate, which is leader Lee Jae-myung's 'signature project,' the government and ruling party have shown such negative views as to cut the entire budget, making it difficult to discuss the bill. The Local Love Gift Certificate Activation Act, proposed by lawmaker Lee Hae-sik, is currently pending in the Public Administration and Security Committee subcommittee.

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