Legislation Committee Passes 250,000 Won Support Law and Yellow Envelope Law... Opposition Party Pushes Through

On the 31st, opposition parties including the Democratic Party of Korea held a full meeting of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee and unilaterally passed the 'Nationwide 250,000 Won Support Act' and the 'Yellow Envelope Act (Amendment to the Labor Union Act)'.

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a full meeting that day and approved the Nationwide 250,000 Won Support Act and the Yellow Envelope Act with 10 votes in favor and 7 abstentions each. The ruling party, People Power Party, did not participate in the vote, citing insufficient review and discussion.

On the morning of the 31st, during the full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly, Chairman Jeong Cheong-rae attempted to proceed with votes on the "Nationwide 250,000 Won Support Act" and the "Yellow Envelope Act" in order, when ruling party members including Yoo Sang-beom of the People Power Party protested. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, on the 18th, the opposition held a full meeting of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee and unilaterally processed the Nationwide 250,000 Won Support Act, forwarding it to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. This bill, which was also a general election pledge of former leader Lee Jae-myung, includes provisions for the state and local governments to provide administrative and financial support necessary for the payment of subsidies, and to issue local love gift certificates to all citizens.

The amount is to be determined by presidential decree within the range of 250,000 to 350,000 won depending on the recipients.

The core of the Yellow Envelope Act is to strengthen the responsibility of the primary contractors for subcontracted workers, expand the scope of labor disputes, and limit companies' claims for damages against striking workers.

Although it passed the plenary session of the 21st National Assembly led by the opposition, it was ultimately discarded after President Yoon Suk-yeol exercised his veto power and the bill was re-voted.

The Democratic Party plans to forcibly pass these bills at the plenary session next month. In response, the ruling party plans to block the passage of the bills through a filibuster.

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