 Minister of Government Legislation Lee Seog-yeon says in an interview with The Korea Times at his office that what’s most important for the nation is following the “due process of the law.” / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
Staff reporters
The government will unveil a package of bills to drastically revise the framework of laws governing foreign investment in Korea around August as part of moves to strengthen the nation's competitiveness.
Despite years of deregulation efforts, the country still has a long way to go before becoming a truly international investment haven and the foremost job is to break down legal barriers, Minister of Government Legislation Lee Seog-yeon said.
"Our laws and decrees are basically restrictive and meddlesome, and make doing business quite tough for both Korean and foreign businesses. We must change that," Minister Lee said in a recent interview at his office in Seoul.
Details of deregulation, mapped out jointly with the Presidential Council on National Competitiveness, will be reported to President Lee Myung-bak and made public in July or at the latest in August, he said.
The minister said the deregulation drive is fully backed by President Lee, formerly CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, who knows the difficulties facing businessmen due to tough regulations.
"The President has a strong will to make it happen because he is well aware of how unfriendly the current legal system is to businesses," he said.
The minister is positive about the prospect of the bills being endorsed at the National Assembly. "It's a non-political issue. We have narrowed the gap in our opinions with related ministries, and the ruling and opposition parties."
One of the key changes to be made is to alter the framework of laws to a "negative format" from the current "positive" one, he explained.
Under the negative format, the authorities will basically grant a green light to all requests seeking approval to run businesses here, except for specific cases banned by law due to national security, or diplomatic or environmental concerns. Under the current positive system, the authorities in principle reject requests for approval except for cases stipulated by law.
"This format transition to the negative system will deliver a great impact on the market," Lee confidently said.
He said that through the revision of the legislative framework, the nation's laws will be brought in line with international standards.
"Our national competitiveness remains at a low level, despite rapid economic growth. One of the key reasons behind the low competitiveness is the relatively weak legal system."
Lee described the ongoing deregulation move as a critical battle against a diehard bureaucracy. To make the relaxation of the rules effective, he said civil servants ― from the top to lower hierarchy ― must put them into practice.
"Even if the bills are approved, whether these relaxed rules will be implemented is a different matter in reality. That's because many public officials who are familiar with old practices tend to refuse to loosen the reins," Lee said, adding, "This amounts to a neglect of duty."
For that reason, he stressed the need of establishing centers to provide a legal education to public servants.
Translation works
The minister is keen on translating laws and legal terms, especially those necessary for foreign investors, into English.
At the same time, to support expatriates who struggle with a lack of creditable sources providing legal consultancy, the human rights lawyer-turned-minister said the ministry will consider establishing a unit that is capable of offering a full package of consulting services.
The ministry has run a website (oneclick.law.go.kr) providing basic legal information on six major subjects in English to support English-speaking foreigners here - foreign investment, foreign workers' employment, foreign students, interracial marriage, overseas Koreans and transportation/driving.
Its recent edition of the "Korean-English Glossary of Legal Terms" reflects the ministry's efforts to make Korea's legal environment more friendly to foreigners.
It has recently published an English-language book promoting the government's eco-friendly policy, "Green Growth," which the administration has pushed for amid growing international calls for sustainable economic development.
Lee said the ministry is working to translate key parts of the laws on investment and green growth into English booklets and CDs ahead of the G-20 summit in November.
"We plan to distribute these booklets and CDs to G-20 summit delegations and journalists," he said.
Although the ministry has made concerted efforts to make more laws available in English, only a fraction of them, including 700 business-related articles, have been translated so far.
Lee is well aware of the demand for the diversification of languages available on the ministry's website, but this has been restricted by the shortage of manpower and budget.
Against this, Minister Lee has pledged to try to increase investments in foreign language legal services in the shared belief with President Lee that easier and wider access to laws in English will help boost the country's international competitiveness in the long run.
"The translation service is a very critical element in drawing foreign investment," Lee said. "What foreign investors check before making a decision whether to foray into the domestic market is our legal system. By providing key business-related legal information in English, we can expect more foreign investors to pay attention to the domestic market."
In line with the move, the ministry plans to shorten the period of time for updates, diversify the languages the services are available in and extend the scope of translation to not only laws but also their ordinances, which stipulate how the rules are actually applied.
"We are also considering translating the content into Vietnamese," he said.
Lee said other developing countries have shown greater interest in Korea's laws.
"We can provide some legal knowhow to these countries so that they can use our experiences and expertise in laws for their development. I can sense this growing demand," Lee said. "Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Mongolia and other developing nations are interested in the role of laws in the process of Korea's economic development."
Human rights
The former human rights lawyer said it's regrettable to see in some recent tragic incidents that human rights of the underprivileged have been ignored, but argued it does not necessarily mean the human rights conditions here are regressing.
"Sadly, it's true that outcries from the weak and minorities in society have gone unheeded in recent years," he said. "But it was not serious enough to receive warnings from international human rights groups that the country has been backpedaling."
He took the tragic clash between evictees protesting a city redevelopment project and riot police in Yongsan, Seoul, in January 2009 as an example exposing the authorities' ignorance of the hardship facing people at the lower levels of society. One police officer was killed and more than 20 were injured in the clash.
"We should take it as an opportunity to take action to reshape the legal safety net to provide better protection for the socially weak," Lee said.
However, he added that what was most important for the nation was following "due process of law."
"Even when I was leading a civic group previously, my motto was to follow the due process of law. That's what really matters."
Born in 1954 in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, Lee earned bachelors and masters degrees in law from Chonbuk National University. He earned a doctoral degree in law from Seoul National University. Passing the Korean bar exam in 1985, he worked in a variety of positions at civic groups, state agencies, academia and private firms as a human rights lawyer. In March 2008, he was appointed by President Lee Myung-bak as minister of the Ministry of Government Legislation. |
![[ANALYSIS] Pandemic awakens demand for data-driven automation](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/2b05d621a193420abef7ee24b95eab3d.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
