[Gender Equality Legislation in Crisis] ③ Bills Discarded at Term's End Reintroduced with Every New Assembly, "As If Stamping Them"

A revolving cycle of legislation on women and gender equality
198 key bills in the 21st Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee
153 failed to pass and were discarded
Unresolved issues, including anti-discrimination legislation, resurface in the 22nd Assembly
Review -> expiration and discard -> reintroduction: the cycle repeats
Separate-review mechanisms needed to break the cycle

Of the 198 key bills on women and gender equality sponsored in the 21st National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee, 153 (77.3%) failed to pass before the end of the Assembly's term and were discarded, according to an analysis. Although the bills were discarded when the Assembly changed, unresolved legislative issues have resurfaced in the 22nd National Assembly.

The Asia Business Daily analyzed bills sponsored by members of the 21st National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee, selecting those related to gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, victim protection, gender equality, and women's policies. The analysis identified 198 key bills. It excluded general policies concerning youth, families, caregiving, and child-rearing, as well as technical amendments involving only terminology. Of the 198 bills, the largest number, 153 (77.3%), were discarded at the end of the Assembly's term, while 37 were discarded after their provisions were incorporated into alternative bills, four were passed with amendments, and four were withdrawn.

The problem is that the need for legislation does not disappear just because a bill is discarded at the end of an Assembly's term. Cases are piling up in which issues left unresolved in the 21st National Assembly have been taken up again in the 22nd. The proposed establishment of a Women's Human Rights and Peace Foundation is one such example. In 2020, then-lawmaker Jung Choon-sook of the Democratic Party of Korea proposed an amendment to the Act on Protection and Support for Japanese Military Sexual Slavery Victims to establish an independent foundation to conduct research and investigations related to victims of the Japanese military's wartime sexual slavery. The bill reached a subcommittee of the Gender Equality and Family Committee but was discarded at the end of the Assembly's term. Although the Act was amended once in March 2026, the establishment of the foundation was not included. In June 2026, Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Jinsook proposed another related amendment.

The cycle of review, expiration with the end of the Assembly's term, and reintroduction is repeating in other standing committees as well. A bill on punishment for dating violence crimes and protection of victims, introduced in 2022 by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Mia, was referred to a subcommittee of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee the following year, but was discarded when the 21st National Assembly ended. In July 2024, shortly after the 22nd National Assembly convened, Kim reintroduced a special act on punishing dating violence crimes and protecting victims. Related bills from Democratic Party lawmakers Park Jeonghyun and Hwang Jeonga, among others, followed.

This pattern is even more pronounced with gender equality legislation, which has faced deep social divisions and continued to be debated across successive National Assemblies. An amendment to the Mother and Child Health Act introduced in 2020 by Democratic Party lawmaker Park Jumin defined medication and surgery as methods of terminating a pregnancy. After being placed on a subcommittee's agenda three times, it was discarded at the end of the Assembly's term. In the 22nd National Assembly, Democratic Party lawmakers Lee Sujin and Park Jumin, among others, reintroduced amendments, which are now under review by the Health and Welfare Committee. In September 2026, the government also announced plans to pursue the formal introduction of medication for pregnancy termination. The National Assembly Research Service said there was no need to make approval of the medication and amendment of the law sequential prerequisites, but recommended that the Criminal Act and the Mother and Child Health Act be revised in parallel to ensure pregnancy termination is managed within the healthcare system.

The Anti-Discrimination Act and the Life Partnership Act are following a similar pattern. Four anti-discrimination and equality bills sponsored in the 21st National Assembly by lawmakers Jang Hyeyoung of the Justice Party, Lee Sangmin of the Democratic Party, Park Jumin of the Democratic Party, and Kwon Insook of the Democratic Party all failed to become law. In the 22nd National Assembly, Son Sol of the Progressive Party and Jung Chunsaeng of the Rebuilding Korea Party introduced new anti-discrimination bills. The Life Partnership Act, separately introduced in the 21st National Assembly by Yong Hyein of the Basic Income Party and Jang Hyeyoung of the Justice Party but discarded, was also reintroduced in the 22nd.

Observers say that in the second half of the 22nd National Assembly, lawmakers should do more than simply reintroduce unfinished business from previous Assemblies; they should also improve the chances of passing bills by addressing each issue separately. Heo Minsook, a legislative researcher at the National Assembly Research Service, identified the practice of reviewing bills on an "all or nothing" basis as the biggest bottleneck preventing legislation on women and gender equality from passing. "When disagreements arise over even one contentious provision, the entire bill ends up locked away in a cabinet," Heo said.

She added, "To break the vicious cycle of reintroducing the same bills with every new Assembly as if simply stamping them, we must start with the review records accumulated by previous Assemblies. We need a politics of 'separate review': first separating out and passing urgent provisions on livelihood issues and protection that can command agreement, while setting a firm timetable for further discussion of contentious issues and resolving them in stages."

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