Since the 22nd National Assembly convened in late May, regulatory bills have doubled compared to the start of the previous Assembly, with nearly 30% of proposed legislation introducing or strengthening regulations.
The civic group Citizen Forum for Good Regulation reported on Nov. 12 that of the 4,503 bills submitted between May 30 and Oct. 25, 1,345, or 29.9%, contained regulatory measures. This is a significant increase from the 21st Assembly, where 14.9% of bills in its first five months were regulatory. Critics argue that the new regulations could stifle business autonomy, drive up costs, and impact national competitiveness.
The proposed bills include an amendment to the Fair Hiring Procedure Act, introduced in June, which would require companies to disclose their AI hiring processes and conduct regular inspections of AI technology. Another amendment, aimed at limiting after-hours social media messaging, would revise the Labor Standards Act. Proponents say this change would reduce worker stress, but some academics argue that such issues should be managed by workplace policy rather than legislation.
Another proposed revision, to the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act, would automatically approve parental leave requests if not addressed within 30 days. Bae Kwan-pyo, a professor at Chungnam National University, described this as an “unnecessary restriction on employer autonomy.”
Analysts attribute the increase in regulatory bills to populism and competition among lawmakers to deliver results. Of the regulatory bills introduced, the Democratic Party of Korea accounted for 63.6% (855 bills), followed by the People Power Party with 32.6% (439 bills), the Rebuilding Korea Party with 2% (28 bills), and the Progressive Party with 1.1% (15 bills).
A government official noted that ministries used to advise caution on such bills, and the Assembly often accepted these concerns. “However, with ongoing partisan imbalances, more bills are being pushed through unchecked,” they said.
