Sim Sang-jung Announces Proposal of 5 Major National Assembly Reform Bills... "All Stocks Must Be Sold Upon Election as National Assembly Member"

Announcement of Five Major Reforms Including Ethics National Assembly Act and Future National Assembly Act
Key Points of Innovative Bills Such as Complete Sale of Owned Stocks

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] On the 23rd, Shim Sang-jung, a member of the Justice Party, proposed the 'Five Major National Assembly Reform Bills,' which include provisions requiring members of the National Assembly to either sell all their stocks or place them in a blind trust regardless of conflicts of interest.

Shim, a member of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Political Reform, held a press conference at the National Assembly on the same day and explained the purpose of the bill, stating, "The credibility of the National Assembly, which should lead reform, ranks the lowest among all institutions in the Republic of Korea, and the reform must respond to the public's distrust."

The five major reform bills introduced by Shim are the Ethics National Assembly Act, Future National Assembly Act, Responsible National Assembly Act, Citizen National Assembly Act, and Fair National Assembly Act.

The Ethics National Assembly Act requires members of the National Assembly to sell all stocks they hold or place them in a blind trust within 60 days from the date of election, regardless of conflicts of interest.

The Future National Assembly Act aims to make the National Assembly take a more proactive role in responding to the climate crisis by establishing a Special Committee on Climate Crisis Response as a permanent special committee of the National Assembly. The Responsible National Assembly Act allows candidates for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker positions to register as candidates to prevent a parliamentary vacancy, and if there is only one candidate, that candidate is elected without a vote.

The Citizen National Assembly Act includes provisions to mandate public hearings on petitions with public consent and to guarantee the right of petitioners to make statements, thereby ensuring the substantive petition rights of the public. The Fair National Assembly Act relaxes the requirements for negotiation groups from 20 seats to 5 seats.