People Power Party Holds Meeting with Eight Economic Organizations
"Commercial Act Amendment, a Harmful Law That Strangles Companies"
"Lee's True Anti-Business Nature Revealed... Proposes Final Debate"
The People Power Party, together with economic organizations, pressured the Democratic Party to withdraw the proposed amendment to the Commercial Act that the party is pushing through. They proposed another final debate to Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, arguing that if the amendment passes, companies will be exposed to unlimited lawsuits.
On the 26th, the People Power Party held a meeting at the National Assembly with eight economic organizations, including the Korea Economic Association, under the theme of 'Economic Organizations for Enhancing Shareholder Rights and Corporate Governance.'
The participants of the meeting voiced that the Democratic Party should stop attempting to amend the Commercial Act. The amendment includes ▲expanding the duty of directors from 'the company' to 'the company and shareholders' ▲mandatory electronic shareholder meetings for listed companies, among other provisions.
The People Power Party pointed out that the amendment to the Commercial Act is a harmful law that strangles companies. There are concerns that domestic companies, already exposed to various disputes due to excessive litigation, will become prey to foreign speculative capital. It is assessed that if companies focus solely on defending management rights, not only will competitiveness weaken, but the decline in corporate value leading to a drop in stock prices will result in losses for shareholders.
Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized, "The Democratic Party's insistence on amending the Commercial Act is like wielding an axe for a surgery that requires a scalpel," adding, "The moment the law passes, companies will be exposed to the deadly poison of unlimited lawsuits and management paralysis."
He also directed criticism at Lee Jae-myung, who is pushing the amendment. Kwon Young-se, emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, pointed out, "Lee, who pretended to be a clumsy moderate conservative claiming that corporate growth is everything for economic growth, has revealed his anti-market and anti-corporate true colors through the amendment to the Commercial Act."
He then demanded a public debate with Lee. Floor leader Kwon proposed, "Before the plenary session, let's have a final debate on the amendment to the Commercial Act and the inheritance tax issue," adding, "Let's be properly evaluated in front of the people." The ruling and opposition parties had a confrontation over the method and format of the debate after Lee proposed a public debate on inheritance tax reform on the 23rd.
The Democratic Party aims to pass the amendment to the Commercial Act at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 27th, after unilaterally processing it at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's bill review subcommittee on the 24th. In response, the People Power Party plans to request Choi Sang-mok, Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, to exercise the right of reconsideration (veto) on the amendment.
The People Power Party intends to protect minority shareholders through amendments to the Capital Market Act instead of the Commercial Act. They have already proposed an amendment to the Capital Market Act that includes efforts to protect shareholders when the board of directors of a listed company resolves mergers, and provisions that allocate up to 20% of the public offering shares to the parent company's shareholders when a company lists a subsidiary created through a physical division.
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