The ruling Democratic Party of Korea will submit a special bill on the 20th aimed at drawing large-scale advanced-industry investment into regional areas. The party has settled on renaming the legislation the Super Mega-Regional Special Zone Act and on including a contentious provision exempting high-paid professionals and research and development personnel from the 52-hour workweek cap.
According to political sources on the 19th, the party's special committee on mega-growth is pushing to introduce the bill on the 20th. Rep. Park Sang-hyuk, the ruling party's liaison on the National Assembly's National Policy Committee and a member of the special committee, will lead the sponsorship. The bill centers on grouping multiple local governments into a single wide-area economic bloc to create large special zones, with concentrated support including faster permitting, power and water supply, expanded transport networks, and fiscal, financial and tax incentives. The party is expected to announce its direction for handling the bill at a floor leadership meeting and other sessions on the 20th. Kim Min-seok, the party's leader, said in a parliamentary address last month that he would pursue the bill as the top legislative priority of the current regular session.
The bill's name has been changed from the earlier Mega Special Zone Act to the Super Mega-Regional Special Zone Act. A special committee official said the change followed views that "a name was needed that is not limited to a specific project but can encompass multiple regions and businesses." The move is seen as a response to accusations of preferential treatment for the Honam region that surfaced after the government announced support for three mega projects, including an 800 trillion won semiconductor cluster in the southwestern part of the country.
The biggest points of contention are working hours and the easing of rules on non-regular workers. The white-collar exemption, which is likely to be included in the bill, would remove high-paid professionals and R&D personnel who meet certain requirements from the 52-hour statutory cap on weekly working hours and exempt them from overtime premium pay. Also under discussion are expanding flexible working-hour arrangements for R&D personnel and extending the permitted employment period for fixed-term workers.
With tripartite talks on the labor exemptions still under way, a backlash from labor groups is expected after the bill is introduced. President Lee Jae-myung agreed on the need for social dialogue at a meeting with the heads of the country's two umbrella labor organizations on the 3rd of last month, and Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon proposed separate talks on the labor exemptions on the 15th of the same month. A working-level tripartite body was launched afterward, but differences over core issues remain. A fifth meeting is scheduled for the 20th, and the ruling party's push to introduce the bill with the labor exemptions included is expected to ripple through the social dialogue.
Still, with differences over the labor exemptions unresolved within the party, the final form of the submission is being coordinated. One option under discussion is for Rep. Choi Ki-sang, the ruling party's liaison on the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, to submit a separate bill excluding the working-hour exemption clauses. A special committee official said, "We will finalize the handling method and announce the party's position on the 20th."