Head of largest business body urges Assembly to pass economic bills

Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Park Yong-maan, left, hands over a copy of a KCCI report on bills to Rep. Lee In-young, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea at the National Assembly, Monday. Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Park Yong-maan urged an early passage of bills relating to deregulation to better take on growing signs of economic downturn, during his meetings with political leaders at the National Assembly, Monday.

The KCCI chief stressed that politics is attributable to the country's economic downturn and the pains of companies and people here.

“We have to understand that both companies and people find it hard to live. Politics is not free from the responsibility of it,” Park told Rep. Lee In-young, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) on Monday. “I came here to appeal to lawmakers to tackle the economic challenges that we face today by making concessions for each other no matter how.”

The KCCI chief met Rep. Lee In-young of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Rep. Na Kyung-won of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), Rep. Oh Shin-hwan of the minor Bareunmirae Party (BMP), Rep. You Sung-yop of the Party for Democracy and Peace and Rep. Youn So-ha of the Justice Party. He also has handed over copies of KCCI reports on bills.

His visit to the Assembly came months after he made a visit in September last year to ask the Assembly for an early passage of key economic bills for job creation and financial deregulation to boost the country's economy.

However, many of those bills have been pending since then due to the break of the activities at the National Assembly, particularly for about three months recently after the LKP started to boycott legislative activities calling for the withdrawal of fast-tracked bills on electoral and political reforms.

The vocal businessman also stressed last December that the country's economy has been mired in a structural downturn, but neither the government nor lawmakers are moving to carry out regulatory reforms, instead adding to the problem by increasing regulations.

Meanwhile, it is expected that the Assembly will hold an extraordinary session sometime soon, following the decision of four political parties to submit a request to hold an extraordinary session excluding the LKP.

The DPK has pledged to submit a request to the Assembly to convene the extraordinary session to normalize Assembly operations along with the BMP. The BMP has earlier vowed to do so by joining hands with other political parties within the day.

The moves came amid a two-month hiatus in Assembly sessions.

Under the law, an extraordinary session must begin on the first day of February, April or June, or Aug. 16, but political parties with negotiating bloc status have to agree on a detailed schedule. If more than a quarter of all lawmakers (75) agree, they could convene an extraordinary session, meaning that the BMP with 28 seats could get Assembly activities resumed by teaming up with lawmakers from the DPK, Justice Party and Party for Democracy and Peace, which favor normalizing the Assembly without the LKP.

The LKP, meanwhile, has pledged to boycott the other parties' moves to hold the session while blaming the DPK for declining to accept its request of holding an Assembly hearing to evaluate the government's economic policies and to summon presidential officials for questioning.