"Bank of Korea Should Regularly Publish Full Minutes of Monetary Policy Committee Meetings"

Representative Proposal by Koo Ja-geun, Member of the People Power Party

Gu Ja-geun, a member of the People Power Party representing Gumi City, Gyeongbuk, has introduced a bill to amend the Bank of Korea Act that requires the full minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee meetings, attended by all members whose terms have expired, to be disclosed on a regular basis.

Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, is presiding over the Monetary Policy Direction meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee held on the 11th at the Bank of Korea in Jung-gu, Seoul. The Bank of Korea ended its monetary tightening stance, which began in August 2021 with a 0.25 percentage point increase, and lowered the rate by 0.25 percentage points, shifting to a more accommodative stance for the first time in 3 years and 2 months. Photo by Joint Press Corps

According to the "Status of Disclosure of Policy Decision-Making Body Minutes of Major Central Banks" submitted by the Bank of Korea to Gu Ja-geun's office on the 14th, the United States discloses the full minutes with real names five years after the meetings. The United Kingdom and Japan also disclose full minutes with real names eight and ten years after the meetings, respectively.

Currently, the Bank of Korea does not disclose the full minutes according to the law but regularly publishes anonymized summaries of the Monetary Policy Committee meetings. However, if four years have passed since the meeting and the National Assembly requests it, the anonymized full minutes are submitted as non-public documents. This is intended to allow committee members to freely express their opinions and ensure decisions are made with conviction.

However, since the base interest rate has a significant impact on the daily lives of citizens and the national economy, there have been calls to increase transparency in the decision-making process and enhance the accountability of the committee members.

On the same day, Representative Gu proposed a partial amendment to the Bank of Korea Act that maintains the current disclosure method but requires the full minutes with real names to be regularly disclosed once all members who attended the meeting have completed their terms.

Currently, the term of Monetary Policy Committee members is four years, with the possibility of reappointment. The committee consists of seven members, including the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Korea, members recommended by the Minister of Strategy and Finance, the Governor of the Bank of Korea, the Chairperson of the Financial Services Commission, the President of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the President of the Korea Federation of Banks.

Representative Gu said, "From the perspective of the public's right to know and enhancing the accountability of the Monetary Policy Committee members, legal amendments are absolutely necessary," adding, "We will continue to explore ways to make the policy decision-making processes of the national policy bank more transparent."