Oh Se-hoon: "Opposition's Commercial Act Amendment, Lee Jae-myung's 'Economic Killing'"

"Greater Management Uncertainty If Implemented According to Democratic Party's Plan"
"Lee Jae-myung's Political Calculation to Gain Support from Minority Shareholders"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized the amendment to the Commercial Act, which was passed in the National Assembly plenary session led by the Democratic Party of Korea, as "Lee Jae-myung's 'economic killing'."

On the 14th, Mayor Oh wrote on Facebook, "On the surface, it appears to be a measure to protect minority shareholders," but "if implemented according to the Democratic Party's plan, it will increase uncertainty in corporate management and suppress directors' decision-making."

Yonhap News

The amendment to the Commercial Act, proposed as a party bill by the Democratic Party, expands the duty of directors from the existing 'company' to 'company and shareholders' and mandates the introduction of electronic general meetings for listed companies. However, there are concerns that expanding the duty of loyalty to shareholders will lead to short-sighted decisions rather than long-term future investments.

Mayor Oh said, "Management decisions may appear as losses in the short term, but in the long term, they can lead to corporate growth and investment," adding, "However, if the amendment is passed, an environment will be created where lawsuits can be filed at any time regarding such decisions." He continued, "Executives are likely to delay or even avoid decision-making due to concerns about legal risks."

Mayor Oh stated, "It is unlikely that Representative Lee Jae-myung was unaware of these side effects," and "Nevertheless, pushing the amendment through seems to be a political calculation to gain the support of minority shareholders." He added, "Rather than supporting corporate growth and innovation, pushing a bill that worsens the business environment and ties the hands and feet of companies is 'economic killing' and tantamount to self-harm."

Mayor Oh said, "There have been cases in the past where mergers and splits were abused for the benefit of major shareholders," but "the amendment to the Capital Markets Act alone is sufficient to prevent such problems, and unnecessarily tightening all companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises, through amendments to the Commercial Act will cause far more side effects than benefits."