KEF: "50% of Companies Feel Burdened by Serious Accidents Act... Regulatory Reform Needed to Restore Growth Ladder"

On April 14, a survey revealed that the government regulation causing the greatest burden for companies this year is safety regulation, such as the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

2026 Corporate Regulation Outlook Survey. Korea Employers Federation

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According to the results of the "2026 Corporate Regulation Outlook Survey" conducted by the Korea Employers Federation (KEF), which commissioned Mono Research to survey 517 companies nationwide with 50 or more employees (based on responding companies), 49.9% of respondents cited safety regulations, including the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, as the most burdensome regulation this year. This was followed by "working hours regulation" (25.0%) and "environmental regulations such as carbon neutrality" (15.5%).

However, 63.8% of the responding companies said they were "satisfied with the government's efforts to rationalize regulations." This positive assessment is attributed to the fact that the existing Regulatory Reform Committee was reorganized as the Regulatory Rationalization Committee, its chairperson was elevated to the president, the number of vice chairpersons increased to three, and the total number of committee members expanded from 25 to 50, demonstrating the government's commitment to regulatory improvement.

When asked which regulatory innovation policy they most wanted from the government this year, 23.8% of companies answered "strengthening immunity for proactive administration by public officials," ranking first, followed by "strengthening the regulatory cap reduction system" at 22.2%. Other responses included "introduction of regulatory impact analysis for legislative bills by assembly members" (18.1%), "establishment of mega-special zones" (16.3%), and "enhancing the effectiveness of the regulatory sandbox" (16.3%).

Regarding what is needed in Korea to nurture global innovative companies like NVIDIA, 42.3% of respondents selected "large-scale investment support such as government subsidies and the creation of a sovereign wealth fund." This was followed by "education reform to nurture and secure technical talent" (38.1%) and "drastic deregulation for advanced and new industries" (29.8%).

Kim Jaehyun, head of the regulatory reform team at the Korea Employers Federation, stressed, "Today, speed is competitiveness in the global technology hegemony race," and added, "In the era of AI transformation (AX), with countries around the world going all-out to support advanced industries such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and robotics, it is more urgent than ever for the government to provide overwhelming priming support and bold regulatory innovation to restore the corporate growth ladder in order to foster the next NVIDIA-like global innovative companies."

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