[Exclusive] Rushed Review of Government Organization Act Amendment... Continued Revisions After Subcommittee Review

Law Passed After Only 2 Hours and 20 Minutes of Review, Followed by Ongoing Revisions
Additional Issues Found During Legislation and Judiciary Committee Review
Errors Ranging from Ministry Roles to Incorrect Minister Titles Revealed

The first amendment bill to the Government Organization Act under the Lee Jaemyung administration has inevitably sparked controversy over its rushed handling. The bill review subcommittee, which is responsible for the substantive examination of the Government Organization Act, completed its review in just two hours. However, it was later confirmed that numerous errors were found in the supplementary provisions and other sections, leading to a large-scale additional revision process during the systematization and wording stage.

According to the office of Assemblyman Seo Beomsoo of the People Power Party and others on September 25, significant differences were found between the alternative bill prepared after the subcommittee meeting on September 18 and the version passed at the full session of the Public Administration and Security Committee on September 22, particularly in the supplementary provisions. This was because the problems with the alternative bill were identified and corrected after the fact.

Yonhap News

The supplementary provisions of the Government Organization Act amendment include adjustments to the roles assigned to each ministry within the government organization, as well as extensive revisions to related laws. In particular, Article 7 of the supplementary provisions, which contains amendments to other laws, includes more than 600 items. These amendments range from changing the titles of ministers in accordance with changes to the government organization to reassigning jurisdiction over relevant laws. The issue is that, as each law designates which ministry is responsible, these assignments changed as the supplementary provisions were revised. For example, in the case of the Framework Act on Employment Policy, the alternative bill reviewed by the subcommittee initially designated both the Minister of Finance and Economy and the Minister of Planning and Budget (Article 7, Clause 401 of the supplementary provisions) as the responsible ministers. However, after revisions by the committee’s expert advisors, the final alternative bill only retained the Minister of Finance and Economy (Article 7, Clause 399 of the supplementary provisions).

In addition, numerous errors were found, such as referring to the Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment as the Minister of Climate and Energy, or incorrectly labeling the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy as the Minister of Industry and Trade, at the time the bill was passed by the subcommittee. The total number of items in the supplementary provisions changed with each review stage: Article 7 contained 629 items, then 628, and finally 626 by the time it was referred to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The number of revisions to the supplementary provisions was so great that a simple comparison was nearly impossible.

Such inadequate review occurred because the Government Organization Act was processed at an extremely rapid pace. The bill, proposed by Kim Byungki, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on September 15, was referred to the Public Administration and Security Committee on September 16, submitted to the full committee meeting on September 17, and reviewed by the subcommittee on September 18. The bill, which was 339 pages long (based on the alternative bill), was reviewed by the subcommittee in just 2 hours and 20 minutes, from 10:06 a.m. to 12:26 p.m. After the weekend, a full committee meeting was held again on September 22 to complete the standing committee’s approval process. The review was expedited under the justification of "allowing the new government to begin its work."

This issue became a point of contention during the full committee meeting. When People Power Party lawmakers raised concerns about the continued revisions to the supplementary provisions, the committee’s expert advisor explained on September 22, "We sent the alternative materials reflecting the review on Friday, September 19, and then, on Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st, staff members checked and corrected typographical errors and mismatches in referenced clauses." In effect, the committee’s expert advisors spent their weekend cleaning up a bill that had been reviewed in haste.

However, problems persisted. During the review process by the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which has the authority to review the system and wording, additional issues were identified. These included adjustments to the scope of jurisdiction that did not align with the intent of the Government Organization Act reform, as well as the government’s reorganization of committees in a way that infringed on the review authority of the National Assembly’s standing committees. Furthermore, provisions related to laws that had already expired, such as the Special Act on the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, were still reflected in the Government Organization Act and had to be deleted.