Ruling Party and Government to Push Mega Zone Act Within the Year, Also Discussing 52-Hour Workweek Exception

The Lee Jae Myung administration and the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have agreed to pass the Special Act on Mega Regulatory Free Zones within the year for three major Mega Projects, including the 800 trillion won Honam Semiconductor Cluster. They also said contentious issues such as an exception to the 52-hour maximum workweek regulation inside the zones and additional nuclear power plant construction in Honam will soon be settled at the party-government level.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry, led by Minister Kim Jung-kwan, and lawmakers from the DPK on the National Assembly Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee, led by floor coordinator Jang Chul-min, held a closed-door party-government meeting on the 8th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building. Although it was the first such meeting with the committee in the latter half of the National Assembly and was intended as a courtesy introduction, sources said the talks focused heavily on the Mega Project and the special act, given the urgency of the projects.
After the meeting, lawmaker Jang told reporters that "the deadline for passing the Special Act on Mega Regulatory Free Zones is the regular session of the National Assembly and the extraordinary session in February next year at the latest." He added, "To that end, we aim to hold legislative hearings in July and August, complete the first reading in September, and finish the third reading review by December, including during the budget session in November."
The special act would designate southwestern regions where Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have announced large-scale investments as mega regulatory free zones, while offering a range of regulatory exemptions, special subsidies, tax support, and infrastructure such as power and water supply. In particular, the support would extend beyond semiconductors to all industries within the zones, and it would also include linked assistance aligned with the M.AX Alliance, a manufacturing AX coalition organized under MOTIE.
The plan requires consultations not only with MOTIE and the committee, but also with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, the National Assembly committee on climate, energy, environment and labor, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Strategy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly. Accordingly, the committee plans to ask the government and the DPK policy committee to quickly organize the key details so that deliberations can move forward. Major points of contention include the special exemption to the 52-hour maximum workweek regulation, which is said to be included in a draft prepared internally by the government, and the additional nuclear power plant construction in Honam raised by the climate ministry. According to multiple ruling party sources, easing labor-hour rules and expanding nuclear power were core issues raised from the early stages of planning the Mega Project under the Lee Jae Myung administration.
Regarding the issue, Jang said, "If special exemptions such as an exception to the 52-hour maximum workweek regulation are granted, the alignment between the region and the growth engines, or the industries selected by the government as key support targets, must be considered, so it is a complicated matter. In the end, the Mega Project comes down to power and water supply, which is why the nuclear power issue is involved." He added, "A lot of opinions will likely emerge in a fairly short period of time."
[email protected] Kim Yun-ho Reporter