Democratic Party Launches 'Mega Project' Special Committee... "Tailored Legislative Framework to Be Implemented"

Inaugural Ceremony of the Special Committee on the Three Major Mega Projects
Bold Deregulation Measures Including the White-Collar Exemption

On July 10, the Democratic Party of Korea held the first meeting of the “Special Committee on the Three Major Mega Projects” and stated, “We will implement a tailored legislative framework to accelerate the advancement of these projects.”

Byungdo Han, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who serves as the committee chairman, said at the launch ceremony held at the National Assembly on the same day, “The party and government share the intention to quickly execute this project, which will mark a major transformation in building the future industrial ecosystem and achieving balanced national development.”

He added, “If the government takes the lead in paving the way toward the future, the special committee will construct a solid expressway for that path through comprehensive support,” and continued, “The Democratic Party will ensure that the success of these mega projects leads to tangible changes in the lives of the people, proving itself solely through performance and results.”

Byungdo Han, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, attended the launch ceremony of the Democratic Party’s 3 Major Mega Project Support Special Committee held at the National Assembly on the 10th as the committee chairman, delivering a greeting. Photo by Yonhap News

Kim Kyung-Soo, former Governor of South Gyeongsang Province and vice chairman of the special committee, commented, “Companies are not moved by persuasion. They are moved by conditions, not persuasion,” and explained, “The main reason large corporations decided to invest in the three major mega projects is that focusing investment in the Seoul metropolitan area alone during the AI era makes the future uncertain for companies themselves.”

Jang Cheolmin, Democratic Party lawmaker and secretary of the committee, said, “Given the scale of these mega projects, there will likely be public debate about extraordinary incentives and bold regulatory exceptions in the future, including measures such as the ‘white-collar exemption’ (the U.S. system that exempts high-income workers from the 52-hour workweek).”

Park Kyung-mi, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, met with reporters after the meeting and said, “There was an opinion that, if possible, the special law for the mega special zones should be created using a bottom-up approach that reflects the opinions of each region and area, rather than a top-down approach.” She added, “It was also discussed that we need to obtain from the central government what regulations and exceptions are necessary.”

She continued, “Above all, the special law for the mega special zones must ensure that permits and approvals can be processed quickly,” and added, “The government should eliminate silos between ministries, and the National Assembly should break down barriers between standing committees and work collaboratively.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.