Korean firms give high marks to deregulation despite safety hurdles

Cars are lined up for export at Pyeongtaek Port in Gyeonggi Province, April 3. Yonhap

A majority of companies in Korea say they are satisfied with the government’s efforts to streamline regulations, even as nearly half cite safety rules as the biggest burden they face this year, a business survey showed.

The Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) said Tuesday that 63.8 percent of 517 companies with 50 or more employees reported being satisfied with the government’s efforts to rationalize regulations, compared to 23.4 percent that said they were dissatisfied.

Nearly half of respondents identified safety mandates as their primary burden, specifically citing the Serious Accidents Punishment Act — a contentious law that can hold executives criminally liable for fatal workplace mishaps. Regulation of working hours followed at 25 percent, while 15.5 percent of firms highlighted carbon neutrality and environmental requirements.

Asked which regulatory changes they wanted this year, companies called for greater protections for regulators and inspectors in the exercise of their judgment, at 23.8 percent, followed by stricter enforcement of a system to cap regulations at 22.2 percent.

Other responses included reviewing the impact of new regulations proposed by lawmakers, at 18.1 percent, creating large special business zones, at 16.3 percent, and making regulatory test beds more effective, also at 16.3 percent.

To foster globally competitive innovators, 42.3 percent of respondents said large-scale investment support, including government subsidies and sovereign wealth fund creation, was most needed. Education reform to cultivate and secure skilled talent followed at 38.1 percent, along with sweeping deregulation in advanced and emerging industries at 29.8 percent.

“The speed of competition in global technology leadership is itself a competitive edge,” Kim Jae-hyun, head of the federation’s regulatory reform team, said. “In the era of AX (artificial intelligence transformation), as countries mobilize support for industries like AI (artificial intelligence), semiconductors and robotics, bold government support and deregulation are urgently needed to restore the corporate growth ladder and foster a company like Nvidia,” Kim said.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.