'General Election D-9' Another Wave of Corporate Regulation Pledges

Ruling Party and Justice Party Propose Restrictions on Operating Days and Opening Hours of Complex Shopping Malls... No Support Policies for Large Corporations

On the 5th, ten days before the April 15 general election, election brochures were placed in the mailboxes of an apartment in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyewon Kim, Kiho Sung, Hyesun Lim] With less than ten days remaining until the April 15 general election, policy battles among political parties are intensifying. However, while pledges to revive businesses remain scant, regulatory pledges are pouring out, causing the business community to watch the election with anxious eyes.

According to the National Assembly and political circles on the 6th, the recurring pledge to regulate large retail conglomerates, which appears every election, has once again surfaced. The ruling party announced a strengthened pledge to regulate complex shopping malls for coexistence with small and medium-sized merchants the day before. This includes restricting the locations of complex shopping malls from the urban planning stage, limiting business hours similar to large marts, and designating mandatory closing days. In addition, the Justice Party proposed changing the establishment and modification of large stores from a registration system to a local government approval system to prevent the indiscriminate proliferation of complex shopping malls.

Regarding this, a retail industry official criticized, "The scope and intensity of retail industry regulations proposed by politicians are becoming increasingly severe," adding, "Strengthening regulations amid the management difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is basically telling us to just die."

Corporate policies are also focused solely on regulation. According to political circles, the ruling party, the Democratic Party of Korea, has no pledges supporting large corporations. Instead, the ruling party, together with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, has released a slew of pro-labor union policies. These include ▲ guaranteeing labor rights under labor laws for workers in businesses with fewer than five employees ▲ guaranteeing severance pay for workers with less than one year of service ▲ pushing for ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) fundamental conventions ▲ strengthening conditions for layoffs. Among these, guaranteeing severance pay for workers with less than one year of service raises concerns about direct harm to small businesses and self-employed individuals.

The business community identified pro-labor election pledges in employment and labor sectors, such as establishing principles for regular employment and strengthening layoff conditions, as the biggest obstacles. There was also clear opposition to moves to amend the Commercial Act, which pressures corporate governance restructuring. Without proper safeguards, amending the Commercial Act could make domestic industries vulnerable to speculative forces.

An industry insider said, "While the intention to protect and strengthen shareholder rights through amendments to the Commercial Act is good, measures to stabilize management rights must correspond," adding, "Otherwise, individual companies will inevitably become playgrounds for speculative forces."

An economic organization official pointed out, "Pledges related to corporate governance restructuring are basically recycled and do not align with global standards," adding, "We might introduce cumulative voting, which other countries do not have, but if companies exclude and resist it, management rights themselves could be shaken."