A bill creating "mega special zones" that would apply sweeping deregulation to projects such as a semiconductor cluster in the Honam region has effectively missed its target of being introduced in September, as lawmakers remain divided over labor exemptions. Momentum weakened after Kim Yong-beom, the presidential policy chief who had overseen the government's policy agenda, stepped down and the standing committee reviewing the bill was changed.
According to political sources on the 28th, the mega special zone bill that Democratic Party members of the Political Affairs Committee had planned to introduce in September has been pushed to October or later. One Democratic Party lawmaker on the committee said, "Introducing it by this month is effectively difficult," adding, "We will speed up coordination so that the bill's introduction is not greatly delayed."
The Democratic Party's special committee on mega projects and regional growth was briefed at the National Assembly on the 4th of last month on the government's draft of the mega special zone bill. At the time, the party expressed confidence that it could introduce the legislation within September by accelerating coordination between the party and the government.
What has held it up are the labor exemptions in the bill. In particular, after the lead standing committee was changed from the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee to the Political Affairs Committee, the draft labor exemptions that had been negotiated until then are understood to be under review effectively from scratch. Within the Political Affairs Committee, even lawmakers of the same party are divided over provisions such as an exemption from the 52-hour workweek cap. One Democratic Party member of the committee said, "It is arrogant to assume that an exemption to the 52-hour workweek will be included in the mega special zone bill." Another Democratic Party lawmaker said, "As overseas cases show, exemptions for certain occupations or high earners are necessary."
Some point to the government losing its bearings after the departure of Kim, who had been in charge of overall policy. With Kim out of the main coordination channel for discussions on the bill, the task of resolving differences among ministries over the labor exemptions in the government draft has become more uncertain. The Ministry of Employment and Labor and other government bodies are currently continuing additional discussions on the labor exemptions through a one-point social dialogue among labor, management and the government.
A Democratic Party official said, "Until now, if the party introduced a bill based on the government draft, there was a high chance it would be adopted as the party's official position," adding, "Given the direction of the current discussions, further disputes appear likely even after it is introduced."
Separately, President Lee Jae-myung will convene the third public-private review meeting on mega projects on the 29th to assess progress on key projects including semiconductors and physical artificial intelligence. It will be the third such meeting chaired by the president and the first since the creation of the Office of the National Strategic Investment Adviser, a unit in the presidential office dedicated to mega projects.
