Plan to Establish Special Committee on U.S. Investment Bill to Be Handled on the 9th

Key contentious bills will begin full-scale deliberations one after another during the February extraordinary session of the National Assembly.
According to political sources on the 8th, the ruling and opposition parties first plan to adopt a motion at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 9th to establish a special committee to handle the "Special Act on Strategic Investment Management between the Republic of Korea and the United States" (U.S. Investment Special Act). Recently, the Donald Trump administration in the United States has pressured Seoul by warning that it would raise tariffs back to 25% if the U.S. Investment Special Act is further delayed. In response, the ruling and opposition parties agreed on the need for swift passage of the U.S. Investment Special Act and decided to form a special committee to work out a compromise bill. The committee will operate for one month starting from its establishment on the 9th. Specific schedules such as a legislative hearing have not yet been set, but given the time limit, both sides aim to bring the bill to a plenary vote no later than early March. Deliberations have also begun on the Special Administrative Integration Bills for Gwangju and South Jeolla Province and for Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province, which the Lee Jae-myung administration and the Democratic Party of Korea are strongly pushing.
The Legislation Subcommittee of the Public Administration and Security Committee of the National Assembly plans to hold a legislative hearing on the 9th, then conduct an article-by-article review on the 10th and 11th to produce a compromise bill, and pass it at a full committee meeting on the 12th. The main opposition People Power Party has been highlighting shortcomings such as issues related to fiscal decentralization, but if the bills fall through, there is concern that the regions could lose the 20 trillion won in support promised by the government over four years, making it difficult for the party to block them outright.
The third amendment bill to the Commercial Act, which includes mandatory cancellation of treasury shares and is being driven by the Democratic Party of Korea as part of efforts to improve corporate governance, is also under full review. The Commercial Act amendment bill has already been examined once by the First Legislation Subcommittee of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly, and the parties plan to resume negotiations after holding a legislative hearing on the 13th. However, there are internal disagreements within the Democratic Party of Korea, and it has become difficult to move forward in parallel with the abolition of the crime of breach of trust, which had been promised to the business community, creating significant obstacles. As a result, some observers say it is uncertain whether the bill can be placed on the agenda of a plenary session within the February extraordinary session of the National Assembly.
uknow@fnnews.com Kim Yun-ho Reporter