The head of South Korea’s biggest business lobby group expressed concerns Tuesday over a string of bills meant to toughen corporate regulations and speed up economic democratization.

Park Yong-maan, president of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in a meeting with local business executives that he is concerned about bills related to economic democratization and business conditions.

Park, who concurrently heads Doosan Group, also said that economic indicators hinted that our economy is expected to see signs of recovery from next year, but the business conditions surrounding local companies are not rosy.

Economic democratization, which aims to narrow the wealth divide and promote fair competition between conglomerates and smaller companies, was a key election campaign pledge of both the rival parties during last December’s presidential election.

The National Assembly passed some bills related to the economic democratization in June, but others are still pending in parliament.

The Park Geun-hye government is seeking to achieve “economic democratization,” which calls for reining in the economic power of family-owned conglomerates and sharing wealth with smaller firms.

To that end, the government has been pushing to adopt diverse bills aimed at punishing large conglomerates for being involved in unfair business activities including those preying on small companies.

Imposing taxes on intra-group transaction is one of the government’s key policies.

Intra-group deals are criticized for sidelining smaller companies in bidding processes and also cited as a secret measure employed by owners of conglomerates to transfer their wealth to family members without paying due taxes.

During the meeting, participants discussed companies’ stance on corporate regulations including the new ordinary wage system based on a 2012 ruling by the Supreme Court that said regular bonuses paid to employees are included into their ordinary wages, said Lee Dong-geun, vice president of the KCCI.

Ordinary wages refer to periodically paid remuneration, which is used as a basis for sundry allowances like overtime and holiday shift pay and paid annual leave.

Controversy over the new ordinary wage system was reignited in May this year, after President Park met with GM Chief Executive Daniel Akerson during her visit to the United States.

The South Korean president promised to solve problems with the new ordinary wage system over which the GM CEO raised questions. GM operates a unit in South Korea.

Following Park’s remarks, the Supreme Court decided to reconsider its decision which is expected to be announced within this year.

Business bodies including the KCCI claimed that the new ordinary wage system will have a severe negative impact on the companies. (Yonhap News)