Amendment to the Act on Veterans Designated as a "Livelihood Bill"
The ruling party and the government have decided to push for an amendment to the Act on Veterans that would allow the mandatory service period of discharged veterans to be recognized as public sector work experience.
On November 13, the Political Affairs Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea held a party-government meeting with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and the Personal Information Protection Commission. They designated this amendment as a "livelihood bill" and emphasized that "prompt passage during the regular National Assembly session is necessary."
In addition, the party and government have decided to pursue an amendment to the Act on National Meritorious Persons, which would designate national university hospitals or local medical centers in regions without veterans hospitals, such as Gangwon Province and Jeju Island, as quasi-veterans hospitals. This would enable national merit recipients to receive medical benefits equivalent to those provided by veterans hospitals. Currently, veterans hospitals are located in six cities, including Seoul, Busan, and Daegu.
The party and government also discussed a proposed amendment to the Personal Information Protection Act that would provide special exceptions to allow the use of personal data for technology development purposes when necessary to promote public interests, such as preventing crimes like voice phishing or autonomous vehicle accidents. However, they agreed that "safety must remain the top priority, even in unavoidable cases of personal data use."
The party and government stated, "We will continue to identify, discuss, and formulate policy improvements to compensate for the special sacrifices made in the fields of independence, national defense, and democracy, as well as measures to strengthen personal information protection against violations such as hacking and misuse."
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