Promoting sustainable, innovative growth in local industries
Proposed Bill: Act on the Establishment and Operation of the Southeastern Regional Industrial Investment Corporation
Proposed by Rep. Min Byoung-dug (Democratic Party of Korea)
● This bill would establish the Southeastern Regional Industrial Investment Corporation to boost industrial competitiveness and support the sustainable growth of local businesses, with approximately 3 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in capital contributed by public institutions.
Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act
Proposed by Rep. Cha Gyu-geun (Rebuilding Korea Party) and Rep. Kim Hyun-jung (Democratic Party of Korea)
● The current Act requires investors holding 5 percent or more of a listed company's shares, or making a 1 percentage point change in shareholding thereafter, to report their shareholding and purpose to financial authorities if the intent is to influence management. This bill would narrow the broad phrase 'to influence management' to 'to substantially influence effective control,' aiming to protect minority shareholders' voting rights.
Pending Bill: Special Act on Strengthening Competitiveness and Promoting Innovative Growth in the Semiconductor Industry
Proposed by Rep. Lee Chul-gyu (People Power Party)
● This bill proposes allowing swift infrastructure support and exempting research and development workers in the semiconductor industry from the 52-hour weekly work limit with mutual agreement, aiming to enhance the industry's global competitiveness.
Promulgated Bill: Special Act on Underground Safety Management
Competent Authority: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
● Effective May 27, the amended law will authorize the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to conduct onsite inspections to assess the safety management of underground facilities and surrounding ground in areas at risk of ground subsidence
Administrative Announcement: Partial Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Personal Information Protection Act
● In line with the recent amendment to the Personal Information Protection Act regarding the domestic agent system, this draft amendment specifies the scope of entities subject to the domestic agent requirement.
For queries about the bills, contact cr@draju.com.
koreadherald@heradcorp.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
11 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Lee Jae Myung pulls Education Minister nomination
President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday pulled Lee Jin-sook's nomination to become Education Minister in an unconventional fashion for South Korea's politics, Woo Sang-ho, Lee's senior secretary for political affairs, said in a briefing Sunday. Lee Jin-sook, who became the first minister nominee to have dropped out under the new administration, was one of the liberal president's picks for inaugural Cabinet members. But the 65-year-old has been embroiled in allegations related to academic plagiarism and excessive spending on her children's education overseas, which allegedly involved her violation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. "After contemplation, President Lee decided to withdraw his nomination of Lee Jin-sook as the Education Minister," Woo told reporters. Woo said he had briefed the president about the controversies and public views regarding Cabinet nominees, including the embattled Education Minister nominee, after the president held a closed-door meeting Saturday with floor leaders of rival parties. the the meeting, main opposition whip Rep. Song Eon-seog demanded that the president cancel at least two of his minister nominations. Woo added that the president's decision came after serious contemplation on Sunday afternoon, without further elaborating on how he reached his conclusion. A president's withdrawal is seen as a rare move in South Korea's politics, as most of South Korea's ministerial nominees have voluntarily withdrawn from their positions before the presidential office made any announcement. A notable exception was Cho Dong-ho, who was nominated as the Science Minister in 2019 by former President Moon Jae-in, but his nomination was canceled. However, Lee's decision Sunday translates into his possible greenlight on another controversial Gender Minister nominee, Rep. Kang Sun-woo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Woo confirmed Lee did not withdraw his nomination of Kang, without providing a reason. Kang is alleged to have abused her authority by asking her secretaries to do her personal chores and by making false statements at the hearing to conceal wrongdoing Meanwhile, Woo also confirmed a news report on Sunday that National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac was flying to Washington for talks with undisclosed government officials there. Woo added Wi's trip "is not the last one" before the proposed Aug. 1 deadline for the US tariff hike on South Korean imports and will take place "any time he finds it necessary."
Korea Herald
15 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Lee Jae Myung faces mounting criticism over minister picks
President Lee Jae Myung faces calls to cancel some ministerial picks as he moves to fill Cabinet posts, while all eyes are on whether Lee will override the criticism raised against some nominees. The conservative main opposition People Power Party's interim leader, Rep. Song Eon-seog, demanded that Lee not proceed with presidential nominations of at least two nominees at a closed-door meeting with President Lee and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's floor leader Rep. Kim Byung-kee, according to the People Power Party. There, Kim demanded that Lee approve all 16 minister nominees who completed the confirmation hearing over the past week. This came alongside the main opposition party's statement Sunday that the presidential nominations of Rep. Kang Sun-woo to lead the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and former Chungnam National University President Lee Jin-sook for Education Minister should be withdrawn. In South Korea, a president may proceed with the approval of their nominations for all Cabinet ministers once they have undergone a parliamentary confirmation hearing. The National Assembly is supposed to adopt confirmation hearing reports if the two rival parties agree on the presidential nomination, but they are not required for a president to proceed with his approval. Kang, a two-time lawmaker of the ruling party, is suspected of having abused her authority by asking her secretaries to do her personal chores. Lee is embroiled in allegations related to academic plagiarism and excessive spending on her children's education overseas, which allegedly involved a violation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The brewing controversy over Lee's nomination of Kang has drawn mixed reactions, even from within the ruling party. Rep. Jung Chung-rae, who openly expressed support for Kang by describing her as not only "a warmhearted mother and outstanding lawmaker" but also a "soon-to-be gender equality minister," has taken the lead in the primary to elect the new chair of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Jung's contender and former party whip Rep. Park Chan-dae, on the other hand, called for prudence before the presidential confirmation of the matter. According to the presidential office, Lee was to make up his mind on his nominations following a presidential office closed-door briefing on Sunday; his final decision had yet to be announced as of press time. Meanwhile, such controversies appear to have had little impact on Lee's popularity. A poll by Gallup Korea showed Friday that Lee's job approval rating reached 64 percent, as responses hovered around the mid-60 percent range over the past month. Among those who disapproved of Lee's performance, only 11 percent cited his presidential nominations as the reason for their disapproval. Before Sunday, Lee approved the nominations of six ministers of the Cabinet. These are Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yoon-cheol, Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon, Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, Interior Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung. Prime Minister Kim Min-seok gained a final presidential confirmation on July 3. They were among the 16 ministerial nominees who underwent confirmation hearings throughout the previous week. Along with them, Lim Kwang-hyun, who was picked for the role of the chief of the tax authorities — a vice-ministerial level position — also went through the hearing. South Korea's Cabinet comprises 20 members, including a prime minister and 19 ministers. Among them, incumbent Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryung, who had been serving in the role before President Lee took office, will not undergo a confirmation hearing. The two remaining nominees — Chae Hwi-young of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport — have yet to go through confirmation hearings.
Korea Herald
17 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Why Korea is suddenly talking about Arctic shipping route
Northern shortcut promises speed, savings — but can it deliver? Amid intensifying climate shifts, geopolitical tensions and a scramble for new trade corridors, the Arctic shipping route is quickly emerging as a key term in South Korea's maritime strategy — touted as both a visionary opportunity and a logistical gamble. President Lee Jae Myung and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea have championed the once-remote Arctic passage as a pillar of Korea's long-term logistics agenda, positioning Busan at the forefront of this northbound shift in global shipping. Most recently, Oceans Minister nominee Chun Jae-soo cited the Arctic route as a key reason for relocating the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Busan, part of a broader plan to decentralize Seoul-centric functions and build a new growth engine in the southern port city. The Arctic route strategy involves positioning Busan as a key logistics hub for a northern shipping passage connecting East Asia to Europe via the Arctic Ocean, offering Korea's largest port city a potential breakthrough from industrial decline and population loss. Once blocked by thick sea ice and harsh conditions, the route is drawing attention as climate change and technology advances are expected to make commercial navigation viable within five to 10 years. Among several Arctic Ocean passages, Korea is primarily focusing on the Northern Sea Route. It runs along the Russian coastline from the Bering Strait in the North Pacific to the Barents Sea behind the Scandinavian Peninsula, bypassing traditional maritime choke points in Southeast Asia and the Suez Canal. According to the vision, the Arctic route could reduce the distance between Busan and Rotterdam in the Netherlands by about 7,000 kilometers, bringing it down to approximately 15,000 kilometers. In addition to bypassing geopolitical risks, piracy and congestion in major straits that have disrupted global logistics along traditional routes, it is expected to provide access to resource-rich development projects in Russia's Arctic region. Busan: From port city to polar hub? 'Busan is located at the optimal starting point of the Arctic route to Europe,' said Yang Chang-ho, executive vice president of the Korea Shipowners' Association, during a press conference in June. 'Consolidating cargo from China, Japan and Southeast Asia in Busan and forwarding it through the Arctic route is one of the most economically viable scenarios.' The idea is based on Busan's established status as the world's second-largest transshipment port, after Singapore, bolstered by its location at the crossroads of East Asia's industrial belt — South Korea, China and Japan. In 2024, about 13.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units, representing 55 percent of Busan's total freight volume, were transshipped through the port, making it a gateway connecting East Asian ports with distant destinations in Europe and North America. The port is also told to benefit from strong hinterland infrastructure, lying close to Korea's largest shipbuilding yards and petrochemical complexes. 'Despite concerns about Busan's limited bunker fuel storage capacity for long-haul routes, the city functions effectively due to its proximity to Ulsan's petrochemical complex,' said Choi Su-beom, secretary-general of the Korea Arctic Shipping Association. 'Ships already take on bunker fuel while unloading in Busan, so future eco-friendly fuel bases, such as those for ammonia, do not necessarily need to be located within the port itself.' Route still stuck in ice Currently, the route accounts for less than 1 percent of global maritime traffic, due in part to international sanctions imposed on Russia following the outbreak of its war in Ukraine in 2022. Even before sanctions, however, major European shippers such as Mediterranean Shipping Co., CMA CGM, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd publicly ruled out using the route, citing environmental concerns related to icebreaking and extreme weather. Korean shippers also have shown limited interest. Hyundai Glovis and Pan Ocean tested the route in the 2010s, but activity stalled due to the high costs of ice-class vessels and the limited navigable seasons on the route. Limited transshipment hubs and harsh climatic conditions, which require enhanced cargo protection, are also seen as factors undermining the route's profitability. Han Jong-gil, a logistics professor at Sungkyul University, said, 'We must factor in costs for mandatory requirements under local regulations, such as icebreaker escorts and polar-certified pilots.' He estimated that the new route could increase costs by 5 to 30 percent compared to the traditional route. 'Additionally, since Russia controls the entire route, what can we do if the country blocks the passage there?' Han added. Polar race heating up Despite the uncertainty, international competition for the Arctic shipping route is gaining momentum, largely driven by China, which promotes it as the 'Polar Silk Road.' China's NewNew Shipping operates a container carrier service between Shanghai and Russia's northwestern city of Arkhangelsk, raising speculation that Shanghai aims to become a key hub for the northern route. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement pledging to 'enhance mutually profitable cooperation on the Arctic shipping route," during Xi's visit to Moscow in May. Japan has scaled back its involvement in the route since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in 2022, but continues to hold stakes in Arctic resource development, aligning with Russia's interest in partnering with foreign companies to tap into its Arctic resources. Earlier this month, a senior official from the Japanese government-backed Organization for Metals and Energy Security reaffirmed its intention to maintain a 10 percent stake in the Arctic LNG 2 project on Russia's Arctic coast, according to Russia's Tass news agency. The stake is jointly held with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Japan's second-largest shipping company, despite years of sanctions on the project. Experts stress that coordination with the Russian government, now stalled due to sanctions, is essential for accessing the route, as navigability depends heavily on Russian policies. With such coordination difficult under current conditions, they also point to the need for Korea to nurture competitive shipping companies based in Busan that can secure sufficient cargo volume to sustain operations along the Northern Sea Route. "In terms of total volume — including imports, exports and transshipment — Shanghai far surpasses Busan, handling more than twice the amount," Choi added. forestjs@
