KCCI Proposes Improvements for 139 On-Site Corporate Hurdles Including 'Inconsistent Regulations'

The business community has called for improvements to unreasonable regulations affecting both corporate operations and everyday life. On April 29, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) announced that it had collected the opinions of businesses and submitted 139 “Tasks for Rationalizing On-Site Corporate Regulations” to the Public-Private Joint Regulatory Rationalization Task Force.

The proposal emphasized the urgent need to unify regulations that currently cause confusion on the ground. For example, the current regulations for high-pressure gas storage doors are inconsistent across ministries. High-pressure gas safety management regulations require doors to be pulled inward to prevent the spread of gas leaks, while industrial safety management regulations stipulate that doors should be pushed outward for quick evacuation. In reality, a company handling high-pressure gas installed doors that pull inward according to gas safety regulations but was later cited during an industrial safety inspection, forcing it to replace around 50 doors.

The requirements for leasing warehouses in industrial complexes were also cited as regulations that need to be rationalized. Under current law, only manufacturing facilities and their ancillary facilities can be located in the industrial facility zones of industrial complexes, meaning it is difficult to install stand-alone warehouses or build warehouses on separate plots without manufacturing operations. As a result, companies are often forced to use expensive logistics facilities outside the complexes even when there are vacant factories within them.

There were also calls for regulatory improvements directly tied to daily life. For example, of the 13 over-the-counter medicines available at convenience stores, two types of “Children’s Tylenol” have not been produced since 2022 but still remain on the list. The proposal requested the prompt designation of alternatives for discontinued products.

The principle of “written notice for general meetings of shareholders,” which goes against digitalization, was also highlighted as an area for improvement. According to the proposal, under the current Commercial Act, electronic notifications such as email are difficult without the consent of shareholders, resulting in as many as 100 million paper mailings sent annually for shareholder meetings. KCCI argued that procedures should be established to allow email addresses to be recorded in shareholder registries, and that electronic notifications should be permitted by default to reduce costs and improve shareholder convenience.

Proactive measures for future industries were also proposed. In the case of energy storage systems (ESS), for which demand is surging due to the recent expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, the distance requirements from surrounding sites vary by local government, making installation planning unpredictable. The proposal suggested establishing uniform national standards. In addition, it was argued that the system for alternative service personnel for professional researchers should be extended to research institutes affiliated with large corporations in order to prevent the outflow of talent in national strategic technology sectors. The intention is to stop master’s and doctoral-level personnel from going overseas due to current allocations being focused mainly on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Other issues raised included improving regulations that apply general elevator standards to heavy-duty logistics robots boarding freight elevators at logistics centers, and permitting laundry businesses to operate in textile and dyeing industry-focused industrial complexes in Gyeonggi Province.

Lee Jongmyung, Head of Industry Growth at KCCI, said, “With the Regulatory Rationalization Committee launching on an unprecedented scale and the task force operations entering full swing, corporate expectations are high.” He added, “KCCI plans to identify on-site obstacles to growth, such as through the AI Regulatory Map System and regulatory sandbox, and to present new solutions.”

Yonhap News Agency

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