"Industry Committee or National Policy Committee?" Ruling and Opposition Parties Clash over Which Committee Should Review the Mega Special Zone Special Act

People Power Party: "National Policy Committee Review Is a Cowardly Tactic"

Democratic Party: "The Special Act Is About Regulatory Innovation... We Must Not Be Trapped by Formal Logic"

The ruling and opposition parties are engaged in heated debate over which standing committee should have jurisdiction over the 'Mega Special Zone Special Act.' The Democratic Party of Korea has planned to process the bill through the National Policy Committee instead of the Industry, Trade, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee (Industry Committee), a move to which the People Power Party has strongly objected. The Democratic Party has countered that such criticism from the opposition is politically motivated.

On September 7, members of the People Power Party on the Industry Committee held a press conference to denounce the plan to discuss the Mega Special Zone Special Act in the National Policy Committee, calling it “a self-destructive act which undermines the foundation of the National Assembly's legislative authority, and a cowardly scheme to deceive the public.”

They cited the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s supervisory role over the Mega Special Zone Special Act, and noted that Minister Kim Jeong-kwan himself stated at a workshop that “the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will take on most of the critical tasks after the bill is passed.” They argued, “It is a direct contradiction to the purpose of the law to reassign jurisdiction to the National Policy Committee, especially when the government and the ruling party themselves acknowledge the matter falls under the purview of the Industry Committee.”

The People Power Party members of the Industry Committee asserted that the push to process the Mega Special Zone Special Act in the National Policy Committee is "clearly because the chairperson of the Industry Committee is a member of the People Power Party," emphasizing, "It is evident that this is the reason." In this regard, they called on the ruling party to halt its attempt to have the bill deliberated in the National Policy Committee and instead ensure sufficient time for in-depth review.

The Democratic Party refuted these assertions as mere political attacks and obstruction tactics. Park Kyungmi, spokesperson for the Democratic Party's Mega Growth Special Committee, stated, “The core of the Mega Special Zone Special Act is 'regulatory reform,' and we must not be trapped by the formal logic that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is the sole responsible agency.” She argued, “The practical essence of the act is to provide regulatory exemptions and special provisions by suspending the current regulatory regime that hinders the nurturing of new industries. It is the National Policy Committee’s legitimate duty to handle regulatory reform initiatives and oversee government-wide regulatory coordination, as the Cabinet Office serves as a control tower for regulatory reform.”

Spokesperson Park went further, suggesting that the People Power Party was acting with political calculation. She said, “It is the People Power Party that is using the chairperson’s party affiliation as a pretext to label this urgent livelihood legislation as a ‘scheme’ and to deliberately delay it.” She continued, “If the intent is not to use the Industry Committee as a means of delay, why is there such insistence on avoiding deliberation in the National Policy Committee, which is responsible for inter-ministerial regulatory coordination?” She added, “What the public expects is not a wasteful jurisdictional turf war, but bold legislative results to revive the stagnant economy. The People Power Party must stop making unreasonable arguments that hinder the development of future strategic industries and instead cooperate for the swift and consensual processing of the bill.”

Meanwhile, Kim Minseok, leader of the Democratic Party, announced during a parliamentary speech on this day that “the passage of the Mega Special Zone Special Act will be our top legislative priority during this regular session.”

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