President Lee Myung-bak signed a set of key bills Tuesday his government pushed strongly for to improve the everyday lives of Korean citizens, including legislation to allow sales of some non-prescription drugs at convenience stores and to empower police to access the location of emergency callers.

The five bills are among about 60 measures passed by the parliament last week.

Lee had repeatedly called for the passage of the bills before the outgoing National Assembly ends its four-year term late this month. Had they not been approved before the May 29 expiration of the parliament, the bills would have been automatically scrapped.

To highlight the significance of the new bills, Lee held a signing ceremony and commended the National Assembly for passing them in its final days in office. Lee also instructed officials to take the necessary steps to fully enforce the laws, the presidential office said.

Consumer groups have long called for non-pharmacy sales of over-the-counter drugs, but pharmacists strongly objected, apparently out of concern they could lose a major source of income. The pharmacists argued that supermarket sales of medicines could lead to drug misuse and abuse.

The new law allows about 20 medicines to be sold at supermarkets and convenience stores.

The bill on location information was initiated following a public uproar over the grisly killing of a woman by a Korean-Chinese man. Police came under a firestorm of public criticism for mishandling an emergency call for help from the 28-year-old victim and wasting their opportunity to save her.

Three other bills aim at beefing up Korea's emergency medical system, including establishing more trauma centers and increasing the number of medical helicopters, plus strengthening punishment for violators of the country's exclusive economic zone and introducing a carbon trading system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.(Yonhap)