21st National Assembly Bill Passage Rate at 36%, Worst Record... Overseas Trips Ignoring Livelihood Bills

Among 25,800 Bills, 9,450 Processed
Change of Large Mart Closing Days Pending
Delay in High-Level Radioactive Waste Law Raises Operation Suspension Concerns
Graduation Trip-Style Business Trips Ahead of Term End

The bill approval rate of the 21st National Assembly recorded the lowest level in history. It is pointed out that legislative work, the primary duty of the National Assembly, has been sidelined as the ruling and opposition parties repeatedly engage in political strife amid a minority ruling party and majority opposition party landscape. There is also an evaluation that legislative quality is deteriorating due to excessive duplicate and fragmented bill proposals, and cooperation is disappearing due to extreme factional confrontations.

According to the National Assembly Bill Information System on the 7th, among 25,830 bills proposed in the 21st National Assembly over four years from May 2020 to May this year, 9,455 bills were processed, resulting in a bill processing rate of 36.6%. This figure is even lower than the 37.9% bill processing rate of the 20th National Assembly. Even if many bills are processed at the final plenary session on the 28th, there is a high possibility that the bill processing rate will be lower than that of the 20th National Assembly.

As the ruling and opposition parties continue their extreme confrontation, bills directly related to people's livelihoods are at risk of being discarded without passing the National Assembly. For example, the amendment to the Distribution Industry Development Act, which changes the closing days of large marts from weekends to weekdays, is currently pending in the Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Venture Business Committee. The amendment to the Medical Service Act, which institutionalizes non-face-to-face medical treatment, has seen no progress since the Health and Welfare Committee's bill subcommittee review in August last year.

Major industrial bills directly linked to economic activities are also failing to pass the National Assembly. The "High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Special Act" (High-Level Radioactive Waste Act), which both parties agreed to process, is drifting amid the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties. This act aims to establish a permanent disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel generated by nuclear power plant operations, and if the law is not passed, operations of nuclear power plants such as Hanbit and Kori could be suspended by 2031.

The so-called "LawTalk Act" (amendment to the Attorney Act), which aims to free online legal platforms from excessive regulations by the Korean Bar Association, and the amendment to the Judges Increase Act, intended to resolve trial delays and reduce judges' workload, are also pending in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, making their passage in the 21st National Assembly uncertain.

As bill processing delays continue, the number of bills discarded at the end of each session is also soaring. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry analyzed in last year's report "Comparison of Major Countries' Legislative Systems and Implications" that legislative efficiency is significantly declining due to the increase in proposed bills, the decrease in bill approval rates, and the rise in discarded bills due to term expiration. In fact, 15,125 bills were discarded in the 20th National Assembly, accounting for 62.6% of all bills. This is an increase of 14.8 percentage points compared to the 3,582 discarded bills (47.8%) in the 17th National Assembly.

Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering a negotiation group representative speech at the National Assembly plenary session on the 20th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Overseas Trips for Leisure Before Term Ends... Moral Hazard on the Table

The practice of lawmakers taking overseas trips before their terms end is being repeated. Especially, many lawmakers who lost or were not nominated in the April 10 general election are among those who traveled abroad, raising concerns about moral hazard.

According to the National Assembly Secretariat and standing committees, about 10 overseas trips by lawmakers have been confirmed for this month. If the period is extended from the April 10 general election until the 21st National Assembly ends on the 29th of this month, at least 15 approved trips have been made.

Specifically, among the standing committees, Democratic Party lawmakers So Byung-hoon and Uh Ki-gu of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee traveled to Switzerland and Austria from the 25th of last month to early this month, and Democratic Party lawmakers of the Health and Welfare Committee departed for Uzbekistan at the end of last month.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kwon In-sook, chairwoman of the Gender Equality and Family Committee, People Power Party lawmaker Choi Yeon-sook (Welfare and Leisure Committee), and Democratic Party lawmakers Jung Chun-sook (Welfare Committee) are planning a trip to Geneva, Switzerland, to visit the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The Korea-Japan Parliamentary League is considering attending the Korea-Japan Cultural Exchange Development event held in Tokyo, Japan, on the 17th and 18th, with People Power Party Vice Chairman Kim Seok-ki and Democratic Party Secretary-General Yoon Ho-jung expected to attend.

Additionally, People Power Party lawmaker Ha Tae-kyung, Reform New Party lawmaker Yang Jeong-sook, and Liberty Unification Party lawmaker Hwang Bo Seung-hee, members of the Asian Human Rights Parliamentary League, traveled to Uruguay and Argentina from the 28th of last month for a 6-night, 10-day schedule to attend the league's 20th anniversary symposium.

In the political sphere, there are calls to end the custom of arranging trips as a courtesy to defeated lawmakers and to strengthen the National Assembly's internal review to ensure trips are for appropriate purposes.