Creating Local Jobs and Reducing Corporate Burden through Regulatory Improvements
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 6th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety held the '2nd Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Local Governments Joint Local Regulation Innovation Meeting' chaired by Han Chang-seop, Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, with the participation of heads of 17 city and provincial offices.
At this meeting, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety explained the progress of key tasks discussed at the 1st Local Regulation Innovation Meeting, including consultation results with relevant ministries, and each local government presented cases of innovation in central regulations and shadow/behavioral regulations across two subcommittees.
In the first subcommittee, cases where local governments proposed improvements to central regulations and achieved innovation were presented. Daegu Metropolitan City proposed to the Ministry of Health and Welfare to amend the Special Act on the Promotion of Advanced Medical Complexes, allowing small-scale production facilities to be installed for products developed outside the complex, thereby promoting the commercialization of pharmaceuticals under development.
Incheon Metropolitan City requested the Ministry of Economy and Finance to extend the deadline for completion of new or expanded domestic business sites from 2 years to 3 years to receive tax reductions for companies returning to Korea, supporting the return and settlement of overseas companies. Gyeongsangnam-do requested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to amend the Tourism Promotion Act to include domestic residents as eligible customers for foreign tourist city homestay businesses, expecting the bill to be revised following a regulatory sandbox trial.
In the second subcommittee, cases of innovation in shadow regulations (customary and internal guideline regulations) and behavioral regulations (passive administrative regulations) directly improved by local governments were presented. Sangju City in Gyeongsangbuk-do, which had applied the highest rental rate due to lack of regulations for the Intelligent Farm Innovation Complex demonstration site, reduced the rental burden of tenant companies by about 550 million KRW annually by newly establishing a rental rate clause through an ordinance.
Busan Metropolitan City mediated conflicts between basic local governments and construction companies over land prices calculated retroactively based on prices from 36 years ago, promoting the resumption of housing construction projects, expected to generate an economic effect of 215 billion KRW and create 673 new jobs. Chungcheongnam-do integrated separate committees that operated during urban development projects or building permits, shortening the permit processing period by 2 months, and Gwangyang City in Jeollanam-do prepared a public notice on the adjustment rates of fines related to environmental laws to enable the application of weighted mitigation regulations delegated to ordinances.
Going forward, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to hold the Local Regulation Innovation Meeting every two months to improve unnecessary regulations in projects closely related to regional economic development, job creation, and residents' lives, and to disseminate excellent innovation cases to local governments, thereby securing momentum for local regulation innovation.
Han Chang-seop, Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, urged local governments to take the lead in creating successful cases of shadow and behavioral regulation innovation, stating, “The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will actively support local governments to attract local companies and promote regional economic development.”
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