Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Act on Special Measures for Strengthening the Competitiveness of, and Protecting National High-tech

Proposed by Rep. Lee Won-wook (New Reform Party)

● Hydrogen and mobility technologies have recently gained global prominence as a way to tackle climate change and environmental problems. This amendment aims to provide national support to foster the development of hydrogen and mobility technologies by including them in the scope of national high-tech strategic technologies.

Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act

Proposed by Rep. Park Sung-joong (People Power Party)

● To ensure free subsidy competition among businesses and enhance user benefits for mobile communications services, this amendment proposes to incorporate a few provisions of the Mobile Device Distribution Improvement Act that are essential for customer protection into the Telecommunications Business Act.

The amendment comes as the government decided to scrap a 10-year-old ban on handset subsidies last month. The Mobile Device Distribution Improvement Act came into effect in October 2014 to keep fierce competition to woo customers with hefty subsidies in check, but critics said it only helped local telecom giants reduce their marketing costs.

Rep. Park said, “It is necessary to save the positive provisions of the abolished bill that benefited the public.”

Pending Bill: Partial Amendment to the Act on Restriction on Special Cases Concerning Taxation

Proposed by Rep. Park Dae-chul (People Power Party)

● Given the high interest rates and rising number of stock investors in the current economic landscape, this amendment proposes to cancel the planned implementation of the financial income tax system and maintain the current capital gains tax system.

Promulgated Bill: Enforcement Decree of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act

Competent Authority: Financial Services Commission

● This bill excludes transactions between foreign financial institutes through a foreign exchange broker based on foreign currency from the scope of applicable subjects of financial investment services. It enables executives and employees of foreign companies residing in Korea to trade their listed stocks directly through foreign stock firms if these stocks are exempt from reporting duties under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.

Administrative Announcement: Pre-Announcement of Legislation for the Partial Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act and Public Notice on the Partial Amendment to the Regulations on Issuance, Public Disclosure, Etc. of Securities

Competent Authority: Financial Services Commission

● This bill makes significant improvements to matters concerning public notice and external assessment in the company merger system to protect investors and harmonize the merger system with international standards. It requires the board of directors to draft a written opinion on the appropriateness of the terms of a transaction, such as the merger's purpose, enterprise values, merger ratio, and reasons for any director's opposition to the merger.

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The Korea Herald republishes a weekly legislative report by local law firm DR & AJU LLC to provide the latest information on bills approved, proposed, pending and set to be promulgated. -- Ed.

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For any queries about the bills, contact cr@draju.com.