(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporters Choi Pyeong-cheon, Kim Jeong-jin, and Jeong Yeon-sol = On the 4th, the Democratic Party of Korea and the government decided to propose the 'Mega Special Zone Special Act (draft)' to support mega projects within this month and pass it in the National Assembly within the year.
On this day, the party's mega project and local growth special committee held a party-government council meeting at the National Assembly and received a report on the contents and provisions of the mega special zone special bill prepared by the government from Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination Lim Ki-geun.
Rep. Jang Cheol-min, secretary of the special committee, explained in a briefing after the meeting, "There have been several reports from government ministries related to mega special zones, but this is the first time I have seen a proposal made. Since we are not proposing a bill as is, we discussed legislative strategies today."
Rep. Jang said, “Looking at the speed of party-government coordination, it seems likely that the bill will be proposed in September. There is also a National Assembly audit next month, and if the bill is to be passed during the regular National Assembly session, it must be proposed within this month.”
The bill was decided to be proposed by Representative Park Sang-hyuk, the ruling party secretary of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee.
Rep. Jang said, “It is difficult to make a bill with 100% completeness from the beginning because there are many special laws,” and “Rather than proposing it as a party-line bill, we will propose it as legislation at the Political Affairs Committee and discuss it to improve its completeness.”
He continued, “We plan to proceed with the legislative process by passing a special law through the party debate process.”
Regarding whether the special bill includes provisions to relax the 52-hour workweek, Rep. Jang explained, "I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding (in some quarters), but there is no legal provision that says there is an exception to the 52-hour workweek."
Rep. Jang said, “Originally, there is something known as white-collar passage (relaxation of working hour regulations for high-income professionals) or the selective working hour system,” and “white-collar passage is not specified (in the law) as an exception to the 52-hour system.”
He added, "It is a personal position, but the government's concerns are expressed about how to create a provision for the Korean version of the white-collar immigration system (in the government bill)."
Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party, said in his opening remarks, “We view the integrated Gwangju region of South Jeolla Province as a test bed for mega growth,” and added, “Improving residential conditions, enhancing cultural quality, and improving the medical environment must all move together.”
Policy Committee Chairman Kwon Chil-seung said, "I am well aware of the concerns of the labor community regarding labor-related (companies) preferential treatment in the (mega special zone)," and added, "To harmonize regulatory innovation to increase corporate competitiveness and protection of workers' rights and interests, a grand social compromise process is needed to collect the opinions of all parties."
Lim Ki-geun, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said, “Through the mega special zone, we will provide unprecedented regulatory benefits to investment companies,” and added, “We will create regional growth bases with a balanced ecosystem of housing, transportation, education, medical care, culture, and small and medium-sized businesses.”
On the government side, Chief Minister Lim, Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Shin Moon-hak, and Acting Chairman Lee Byung-hun of the Presidential Local Committee were present at the party-government consultation on this day.
