Choi Tae-won Meets with People Power Party to Present Legislative Tasks
"System Needed Where Rewards Grow with Corporate Growth"
KEF Analyzes and Criticizes Owner-Biased Penalty Structure
"Indiscriminate Criminal Penalties Lead to Employment Instability"
Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, emphasized the need to shift from the current system-where regulations increase and rewards decrease as companies grow-to a growth-oriented approach. He stressed the importance of restructuring the regulatory and reward framework to prioritize growth, especially as global competition is being reshaped.
At the People Power Party policy meeting held on the 19th at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, Chairman Choi stated, "The rules and norms of the game are changing on the international stage, and countries are employing unprecedented policies to support their own companies." He reiterated, "If a system is established where growing companies receive greater rewards, more businesses will proactively seek opportunities and make bold investments."
Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is handing over a policy proposal to Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, at the "People Power Party-Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Policy Meeting" held on the 19th at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung
The meeting was attended by Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, Song Eon-seok, floor leader, and Kim Do-eup, chairman of the policy committee. From the business sector, participants included Lee Hyung-hee, Vice Chairman of SK Group, Ha Beom-jong, President of LG, Lee Tae-gil, President of Hanwha, and Choi Seung-hoon, Vice President of Samsung Electronics.
Chairman Choi pointed out that global corporations are making trillion-won-level investments not by raising funds alone, but by forming funds and attracting external capital for investment. He argued that Korea should adjust its related systems to make such methods possible domestically. In addition, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry delivered 30 legislative improvement tasks, including: prompt legislative support for crisis-hit industries such as petrochemicals and steel; careful consideration of extending the statutory retirement age, including the introduction of re-employment; easing the burden of industrial electricity rates; and introducing production tax credits.
On the same day, business leaders also raised concerns that excessive dual punishment regulations and a criminal penalty structure focused on business owners are discouraging management. The Korea Employers Federation released a report titled "Current Status and Improvement Directions of Corporate Criminal Penalty Provisions in Employment and Labor-Related Laws," which examined 25 laws covering employment stability, labor relations, and industrial safety and health.
According to the report, among the laws reviewed, there are 357 provisions related to criminal penalties, of which 233 directly designate business owners as those subject to compliance-accounting for about 65% of the total. Among these, 268 provisions (75%) stipulate imprisonment, indicating that "punishment-centered regulation" has become the norm.
The law with the most criminal penalty provisions is the Industrial Safety and Health Act (82 provisions), followed by the Labor Standards Act (72 provisions) and the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (31 provisions). In particular, the Fair Hiring Procedure Act, the Employment Promotion for the Aged Act, and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act designate only business owners as subjects of criminal liability, reflecting a "business owner-biased criminal responsibility structure."
Hwang Yong-yeon, Head of the Labor Policy Division at the Korea Employers Federation, stated, "Indiscriminate criminal penalties not only create more ex-convicts, but also discourage companies from making investment and hiring decisions, thereby increasing employment instability. As the government is working to ease corporate burdens and rationalize economic criminal penalties, the punishment-centered structure should also be reformed."
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