US Investment Special Act Passes Legislation and Judiciary Committee with Bipartisan Agreement... To Be Reviewed at Plenary Session on the 12th

The "Special Act on Strategic Investment Management between Korea and the United States" (commonly referred to as the US Investment Special Act), a follow-up measure to the Korea-US tariff negotiations, was passed by the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee on March 11 through bipartisan agreement.

Choo Mi-ae, Chairperson of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, is starting the full committee meeting at the National Assembly on the 11th. Photo by Yonhap News

In a full committee meeting held that day, the committee approved the US Investment Special Act with 11 out of 12 lawmakers in attendance voting in favor. Song Seokjun, a member of the People Power Party, abstained.

The special act stipulates the establishment of the Korea-US Strategic Investment Corporation to implement investments in the United States totaling USD 350 billion, in accordance with the Korea-US Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The bill was prepared through bipartisan agreement at a special committee meeting held on March 9 for the handling of the US Investment Special Act in the National Assembly.

The committee approved the bill with partial amendments, accepting some of the suggestions made by People Power Party lawmakers Cho Baesook, Song Seokjun, and Shin Dongwook.

First, the entity responsible for fund management was more clearly defined as "the manager of the Foreign Exchange Equalization Fund under Article 13 of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act."

Additionally, wording was added to limit the size and scope of entrusted assets to "the extent that does not undermine the stability of foreign currency assets managed by the entrusted institution." However, Assemblyman Song abstained, arguing that the expression "other sources of funds as determined by the President" in the provisions regarding the creation of the investment fund’s resources directly contradicts the principle of statutory taxation.

The special act, having passed the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, is expected to be approved at the plenary session of the National Assembly scheduled for March 12.

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