On September 15, the policy committees of the ruling Democratic Party and the opposition People Power Party held a joint meeting at the National Assembly, agreeing to process 32 livelihood bills, including the Emergency Medical Law and the Foreign Investment Promotion Act. They also decided to establish a 'Livelihood Issues Responsibility Council' for one-on-one communication between party leaders, which will discuss contentious issues such as real estate policy and tax reform.
Kwon Chil-seung, chair of the Democratic Party's policy committee, stated, "Since the last joint meeting, both parties have quickly engaged in practical discussions and confirmed that there are no significant disagreements on many livelihood issues." He added, "We have identified 32 livelihood bills that both parties will jointly propose and promote, including the Emergency Medical Law, the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, and a special law on housing care for the elderly."
He continued, "With the bills organized, the goals of both parties' policy committees have become clearer. I hope the leadership of both parties and each standing committee will respect the spirit of the joint meeting and expedite the passage of these livelihood bills."
In addition to the Emergency Medical Law and the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, the agreed-upon 32 bills reportedly include criteria for raising the preliminary feasibility study standards for social overhead capital (SOC) for balanced regional development, a special law for small and medium-sized enterprise succession, and the introduction of mandatory public purchase systems to protect minority shareholders. However, they have not yet narrowed their positions on raising the floor area ratio for private redevelopment and reconstruction from 1.2 to 1.3.
Im Yi-ja, chair of the People Power Party's policy committee, proposed the activation of the Livelihood Issues Responsibility Council to discuss contentious bills. This approach, involving regular meetings between responsible parties, is expected to yield more practical results.
Im noted, "Finding common ground on shared pledges is relatively easier. The challenge lies in major issues where the parties have differing views, such as real estate policy, tax reform, police reform, pension reform, and amendments to the Yellow Envelope Law (revised labor union law articles 2 and 3)."
He added, "We cannot let livelihood issues remain unresolved simply because there are disagreements. I propose that each party designate one policy vice-chair as a responsible party for each major issue, creating a dedicated communication channel for ongoing discussions on real estate, tax, and social policy matters."
In this regard, Kwon explained, "Since this proposal was made today, we need to coordinate on who the responsible vice-chairs will be, how to set the agenda, and whether to expand discussions to include the secretaries of the relevant standing committees."
Meanwhile, both parties plan to expedite discussions and processing of the agreed-upon bills at the committee level.
Kwon Chil-seung, chair of the Democratic Party's policy committee, stated, "Since the last joint meeting, both parties have quickly engaged in practical discussions and confirmed that there are no significant disagreements on many livelihood issues." He added, "We have identified 32 livelihood bills that both parties will jointly propose and promote, including the Emergency Medical Law, the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, and a special law on housing care for the elderly."
He continued, "With the bills organized, the goals of both parties' policy committees have become clearer. I hope the leadership of both parties and each standing committee will respect the spirit of the joint meeting and expedite the passage of these livelihood bills."
In addition to the Emergency Medical Law and the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, the agreed-upon 32 bills reportedly include criteria for raising the preliminary feasibility study standards for social overhead capital (SOC) for balanced regional development, a special law for small and medium-sized enterprise succession, and the introduction of mandatory public purchase systems to protect minority shareholders. However, they have not yet narrowed their positions on raising the floor area ratio for private redevelopment and reconstruction from 1.2 to 1.3.
Im Yi-ja, chair of the People Power Party's policy committee, proposed the activation of the Livelihood Issues Responsibility Council to discuss contentious bills. This approach, involving regular meetings between responsible parties, is expected to yield more practical results.
Im noted, "Finding common ground on shared pledges is relatively easier. The challenge lies in major issues where the parties have differing views, such as real estate policy, tax reform, police reform, pension reform, and amendments to the Yellow Envelope Law (revised labor union law articles 2 and 3)."
He added, "We cannot let livelihood issues remain unresolved simply because there are disagreements. I propose that each party designate one policy vice-chair as a responsible party for each major issue, creating a dedicated communication channel for ongoing discussions on real estate, tax, and social policy matters."
In this regard, Kwon explained, "Since this proposal was made today, we need to coordinate on who the responsible vice-chairs will be, how to set the agenda, and whether to expand discussions to include the secretaries of the relevant standing committees."
Meanwhile, both parties plan to expedite discussions and processing of the agreed-upon bills at the committee level.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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