Strengthening Punishment for Juvenile Sex Crimes
Calls Grow for 21st National Assembly to Act
Economic and Livelihood Bills Also Lined Up
[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] On the 16th, the last extraordinary session of the 20th National Assembly was convened following the April 15 general election. Usually, the final extraordinary session handles pending bills and those urgently needing passage. The remaining tasks for the 20th National Assembly include follow-up legislation on the 'Telegram n-beonbang' case and the passage of the 'Working National Assembly Act.'
Legislation related to the 'Telegram n-beonbang,' which sparked national outrage, is urgent. On the 16th, the petition titled 'Strengthening Punishment and Disclosure of Personal Information for Sexual Crimes Against Minors via Telegram' surpassed 100,000 signatures and was referred to the relevant standing committee. This is the third national petition concerning the strengthening of punishment for crimes involving illegal sexual exploitation materials such as the 'n-beonbang.' Since the National Assembly has been criticized for failing to properly address the issue so far, there are calls to devote full efforts to discussion and passage during the remaining period. Shim Sang-jung, co-chair of the Justice Party’s election committee, emphasized in her victory speech that "the National Assembly must be promptly convened to resolve crimes involving 'group sexual exploitation video trading,' such as the Telegram n-beonbang." Nam In-soon of the Democratic Party also urged the handling of the issue within the 20th National Assembly after the general election. If the related bills are not passed in this 20th National Assembly, they will be discarded and must wait for the 21st National Assembly.
Given that the 20th National Assembly earned the stigma of being the 'worst National Assembly' due to its low bill passage rate, there are also calls for the passage of the 'Working National Assembly Act.' This bill, which legislates the appointment of the Speaker and standing committee chairs to eliminate disputes between ruling and opposition parties and designates dates for extraordinary sessions and plenary meetings every month, was proposed by Speaker Moon Hee-sang and non-returning lawmakers from both parties. It is considered a preparatory task for making the 21st National Assembly a working National Assembly and a task the 20th National Assembly must complete.
In addition, economic and livelihood-related bills are awaiting passage. These include the amendment to the Labor Standards Act to extend the unit period for flexible working hours from three months to six months, and the Internet Banking Act, which was rejected at the plenary session in March. This bill, which relaxes the major shareholder requirements for IT companies in internet banking, was rejected, prompting Democratic Party floor leader Lee In-young to apologize and pledge to handle it in the next session. Amendments to the Housing Lease Protection Act to guarantee tenants’ housing rights and to the Distribution Industry Development Act to protect small business districts are also still pending.
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