330 Cases of 'Speed Legislation' Confirmed in First Half of 22nd National Assembly, Ignoring Mandatory Reflection Period

Reality of 'Speed Legislation' Ignoring Reflection Period

It has been confirmed that 330 bills passed standing committees during the first half of the 22nd National Assembly without observing the mandatory reflection period stipulated by the National Assembly Act. Critics argue that as the ruling party expedites bill processing, cases of passing legislation without sufficient review have become commonplace. Consequently, the institutional mechanism designed to allow lawmakers to fully understand bill contents and gather stakeholder opinions after proposal has been rendered effectively moot.

The National Assembly Act stipulates that bills must undergo a specific reflection period after being referred to a standing committee. This serves as a critical defensive measure to prevent legal errors and unforeseen side effects resulting from hasty decisions. However, as the ruling majority repeatedly bypasses this deliberative device utilizing its voting power, concerns regarding legislative quality are deepening. There is a pressing need for thorough post-management regarding the ripple effects that hastily processed bills may have on the economy and society at large.

Legislative Issues and Expected Impact on Industry

Bills passed without a reflection period include numerous major agendas directly affecting the economic and industrial sectors. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, the recently revised enforcement decree of the Basic Act on Artificial Intelligence (AI), set to take effect on the 21st, passed a Cabinet meeting, marking the full-scale launch of the public AI procurement market. This decree mandates impact assessments and risk management systems for high-risk AI, acting as a direct regulatory variable for enterprises in technology design and service rollout. If prioritizing speed over sufficient consensus-building, it risks causing industrial confusion and increasing preparation costs.

The balance between legislative speed and quality has also emerged as a key point of contention in the processing of bills supporting small business owners. The revision to the Act on the Protection and Support of Small Merchants, proposed by Rep. Lee Jong-bae, includes institutional grounds for early detection of small merchants facing closure and assisting them with debt adjustment and credit recovery. In this context, President Lee Jae-myung emphasized during a Cabinet meeting on measures to prevent suicide among those in economic crisis that legal rehabilitation or bankruptcy discharge should be actively utilized when debt becomes unmanageable. While the intent to swiftly relieve the distressed is clear, multifaceted verification of fiscal soundness and screening criteria is required beforehand to prevent a blind increase in bad debts.

Debate and Political Stances

Sharp conflicts over speed-oriented legislative processing are arising both inside and outside the National Assembly. The opposition argues that if the form and policy direction of a bill are clear, procedures should be operated flexibly to advance implementation timing. Conversely, civic groups and legal experts point out that abandoning even the minimum deliberative process to guarantee validity and effectiveness amounts to an abuse of legislative power. In particular, Rep. Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform Party, claimed that it is unjust to postpone the Assembly's inherent authority of pre-verification simply because a special counsel procedure is being discussed, arguing that the Assembly must first strictly verify the matter.

Meanwhile, political conflicts intertwined with special counsel investigations and election management irregularities are serving as cross-variables causing delays and forced passage of legislation. The second independent counsel (Special Counsel Kwon Chae-seong) has escalated the intensity of the investigation by requesting arrest warrants for former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jong and former Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office, Jeon Mu-geun, on charges of sedition and obstruction of the exercise of rights. The Kim Gun-hee special counsel (Special Counsel Min Joong-ki) also applied to delay the Supreme Court ruling scheduled for the 16th to reflect Yoon Suk-yeol's guilty verdict for violating the Political Funds Act in the final trial. In the parliamentary investigation into the June 3 local election ballot shortage, the Democratic Party advocated for immediate recounts of the 2.47 million ballots in Songpa District, while the People Power Party argued for processing after the special counsel's launch, leading to a standoff. In a reality where judicial risks and political confrontations are intensifying, concerns remain that excessive processing driven by political calculations, rather than the essential validity of bills, could run rampant.

Legislative Outlook and Implications

Moving forward, the National Assembly is expected to undergo a process of re-evaluating the legislative appropriateness of key bills through standing committees and plenary sessions. Strictly respecting procedures under the National Assembly Act, including the reflection period, will function as a key defensive measure to lower regulatory uncertainty in the industrial sector in the long run. Accumulated evidence already proves that if sufficient deliberation and stakeholder consensus do not accompany bill proposals, it only exacerbates market confusion.

The fundamental responsibility of the democratic Assembly does not lie in simply increasing the number of passed bills. It lies in enhancing legislative quality and procedural legitimacy so that economic actors can make rational decisions within a predictable regulatory environment. The more politically sensitive an issue, the more priority should be given to restoring institutional deliberative mechanisms rather than relying on the power of the majority. Only when policy effectiveness is guaranteed based on rigorous legislative verification can the goals of enhancing industrial competitiveness and market stability be achieved.