The Legislation and Judiciary Committee Accelerates Processing of Public Welfare Bills Including the Depositor Protection Act

Discussion on the Loan Business Act and the Capital Markets and Financial Investment Business Act
Yoon Impeachment Responsibility Dispute Variable; Session Suspended After Only 5 Minutes

The National Assembly is expected to accelerate the processing of livelihood bills that were delayed due to the impeachment crisis of President Yoon Seok-yeol. Initially, the Democratic Party of Korea considered designating the bills as fast-track items, fearing delays in the ruling party's review of the livelihood bills. However, both ruling and opposition parties agreed to prioritize the bills that were previously negotiated before the impeachment, scheduling their passage in the plenary sessions on the 26th and 31st.

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a plenary meeting on the 24th and submitted a total of 86 bills. Representative livelihood bills include the "Depositor Protection Act," the "Act on Registration of Loan Businesses and Protection of Financial Consumers," and the "Partial Amendment to the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business Act."

The Depositor Protection Act primarily aims to raise the deposit protection limit from the current 50 million won to 100 million won. The protection limit refers to the maximum amount guaranteed by the government or entrusted institutions to pay on behalf of financial institutions, and this is the first increase in 24 years since 2001. It also seeks to protect ordinary citizens from illegal private loans by strengthening entry barriers for loan businesses. The amendment raises the capital requirements for loan businesses from 10 million won to 100 million won for individuals and from 50 million won to 300 million won for corporations.

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The amendment to the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business Act, proposed by Representative Park Sang-hyuk of the Democratic Party, is also considered a key shareholder protection bill. The core of the amendment is to introduce the German "Merger Inspector System" into current law when a listed company and its affiliates merge. The Merger Inspector System mandates that a merger inspector, appointed or elected by the court, evaluate the calculation method and appropriateness of the merger ratio to enhance fairness.

Additionally, bills aimed at strengthening support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are also approaching the threshold for passage in the plenary session. A representative example is the "Partial Amendment to the Act on Promotion of Mutual Growth between Large and Small Enterprises," proposed by Representative Jeong Eu-ho. This amendment imposes confidentiality agreement obligations on entrusting companies, links energy costs to supply payments, and allows the use of unfair trade fines to benefit SMEs. The possibility of submitting contentious bills such as the "AI Textbook Act" and the "National Funding Support for Free High School Education Act," which are points of contention between the ruling and opposition parties, remains open.

However, there is also a possibility that the fallout from the ruling and opposition conflicts surrounding the impeachment crisis, including the Supreme Court Justice nominee approval and the special investigation into First Lady Kim Geon-hee, could overshadow the livelihood bills. On this day, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee recessed just five minutes after opening due to a dispute over responsibility for President Yoon's impeachment. Committee Chairperson Jeong Cheong-rae questioned during the meeting, "Which party did Yoon Seok-yeol belong to? Under which party's election campaign was he elected president?" He added, "He is currently under investigation as a suspect for treason, but has that party at least once apologized to the public?" When members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the People Power Party protested, the meeting was suspended.

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