22nd General Election Also Focuses on 'Eul's Tears'... Ruling and Opposition Parties Omit Large Mart Regulation Easing

Most Support Measures Focused on Small Business Owners and Traditional Markets
Democratic Party "Re-push Amendment to Franchise Business Act"
Green Justice Party "'Basic Law for Workers' Legislation"

As the 22nd National Assembly general election scheduled for the 10th of next month approaches, both ruling and opposition parties are flooding with pledges focused on supporting small business owners and traditional markets. The easing of distribution industry regulations, such as converting mandatory closure days for large marts to weekdays, which the Yoon Seok-yeol administration has strongly pushed this year, was omitted from the election pledges of all parties.

According to the top 10 party policies submitted to the National Election Commission on the 25th, the People Power Party promised as its third pledge "New Hope for the Common People, Small Business Owners, and Traditional Markets." This pledge includes contents such as ▲expanding parking environment improvement projects ▲broadening the scope of management innovation support ▲promoting sales through gift certificate refunds ▲holding events annually ▲branding 100-year-old traditional markets ▲supporting capacity-building projects tailored to the characteristics of local commercial districts to revitalize traditional markets.

The policy to revitalize the distribution industry, including revising the mandatory closure days for large marts emphasized by President Yoon Seok-yeol, was excluded from this top 10 pledge list. In January this year, the Office for Government Policy Coordination held a "Public Discussion on Livelihood with the People" and announced plans to abolish the regulation requiring large marts to close twice a month on public holidays and to allow weekday closures by improving the system. This came about 12 years after the mandatory closure regulation was introduced in December 2011. The abolition or easing of mandatory closure days for large marts was considered the "No. 1 regulatory reform" agenda of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration. However, the ruling party, which should have supplemented this through legislation, excluded this agenda from its top 10 pledges.

The Democratic Party of Korea presented as its seventh pledge among the top 10, "We will alleviate the pain of small business owners, self-employed persons, and small and medium enterprises and strengthen their competitiveness." Through this pledge, the Democratic Party stated, "We will induce reasonable transaction contracts by granting collective registration and collective bargaining rights to franchisees, agency owners, entrusted business operators, and online platform tenants." This means they intend to reintroduce the amendment to the Franchise Business Act, which failed in the 21st National Assembly, in the 22nd National Assembly.

This law allows franchisee groups to report to the Fair Trade Commission and negotiate transaction conditions with the franchisor on behalf of franchisees. If the franchisor unjustifiably refuses, corrective measures or fines can be imposed. Concerns have already arisen in the franchise industry because there is a high possibility of misuse contrary to the law's intent.

The industry's biggest concern is that if franchisee groups maliciously exploit the right to request negotiations, franchisors have no way to respond. For example, even if a franchisee group conducts negotiation requests as a kind of protest tool, franchisors cannot refuse to negotiate. Also, anyone can register with a franchisee group, so if negotiation requests by franchisee groups become rampant, it could hinder business activities. If this bill passes in the 22nd National Assembly, not only the franchise industry but also convenience stores and e-commerce based on online platforms, which rely heavily on franchise business, are expected to be affected.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is holding green onions and speaking during his visit to the Tojigeumgo Market in Michuhol-gu, Incheon on the 20th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Handonghun, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is greeting citizens at the traditional market in Dangjin, Chungnam on the 22nd. Photo by Yonhap News

The Green Justice Party promised as its fourth pledge to strengthen the rights of online platform workers through "Resolving labor time inequality and creating a labor-centered society that protects working citizens." To realize this, they plan to reintroduce the "Basic Act on Working People," which reflects the diversification of labor market contract types, including platform workers, in the 22nd National Assembly following the 21st.

This law defines "working people" as those who work directly for others at the workplace regardless of employment status or contract type and receive compensation for it, and includes protective measures. Specifically, it includes the right to stop work if the worker judges the workplace to be dangerous, the right to take at least 15 days off per year, and the right to request their information from platform companies. If this law passes, e-commerce companies like Coupang are expected to face inevitable impacts. In particular, Coupang is likely to face more difficulties as it was recently suspected of creating a so-called "blacklist," a prohibited employment list within the company.

Besides this, major parliamentary parties such as the New Future Party and Reform New Party, as well as sister parties of the major ruling and opposition parties like the Democratic United Party and People's Future, did not include content related to distribution reform in their main pledges. An official from the distribution industry said, "During election seasons, parties tend to focus on small business owners and traditional markets to gain votes, and this general election is no exception," adding, "I hope people do not forget that distribution regulation reform, which benefits more consumers, is more important."

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