"Reconsider the Three Fair Economy Laws"
Chairmen Park Yong-man and Son Kyung-sik Visit National Assembly
Appeal Corporate Urgency and Propose Alternatives
On the 22nd, Park Yong-man, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, visited the National Assembly and entered the chairman's office to meet Kim Jong-in, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party. Chairman Park is scheduled to meet Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, and Lee Nak-yeon, Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, to convey his opposition to the 'Three Corporate Regulation Laws.' Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
[Asia Economy Reporters Dongwoo Lee, Gimin Lee] As the likelihood of the revision bills on the Commercial Act and the Fair Trade Act, promoted by the government and the ruling party, passing through this regular National Assembly session increases, heads of major economic organizations have been visiting the National Assembly one after another to express their urgent concerns.
On the morning of the 22nd, Park Yong-man, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, visited Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, to oppose the push-through style legislation of the revision bills and requested measures to improve the toxic clauses. The Chamber particularly pointed out the need for supplementary measures regarding the separate election of audit committee members in the Commercial Act revision bill.
The Chamber's position is that the separate election of audit committee members severely restricts the management's defense rights, effectively opening the door wide for overseas speculative funds and others to propose audit committee candidates as shareholders and enter the board of directors, with the government and the National Assembly facilitating this.
During a private meeting with Chairman Kim, Park said, "I understand the intent behind proposing the bill," but added, "It is necessary to have sufficient discussions with the business community about whether there are conflicts among the revised regulations and about minimum safeguards against anticipated side effects."
He also proposed an alternative to lift the 3% voting rights limit for major shareholders at least for attempts to enter the board through shareholder proposals if the separate election system for audit committee members is introduced. In the afternoon, Park plans to meet Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party, to convey the same concerns and additionally propose 38 legislative tasks.
Son Kyung-sik, Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, also held a private meeting on the morning of the same day with Yoon Ho-jung, Chairman of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee and a member of the Democratic Party. Son’s visit to the National Assembly was not originally scheduled. As the likelihood of passing the revision bills on the Commercial Act, the Fair Trade Act, and the ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) core conventions increased, he urgently came to convey the business community’s position.
Son plans to meet Chairman Kim again on the 23rd to deliver the concerns of businesspeople regarding the revision bills on the Commercial Act and the Fair Trade Act. Earlier, on the 15th, Kwon Tae-shin, Vice Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, met with Chairman Kim to point out problems with the revision bills and pleaded to block their passage, but reportedly without much success.
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