Ruling party, gov't to rename 'mega special zone' bill with Korean-language title

The ruling party and government have decided to rename the special bill backing the three major mega projects, changing its title from the "Mega Special Zone Act" to the "Supra-Regional Special Zone Act," it has been confirmed.

Alongside this, there are signs that certain labor regulation exemptions may be scaled back from the original government draft — including the so-called "white-collar exemption," which would exclude high-income research and development workers from the 52-hour workweek rule.

Multiple ruling party lawmakers on the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee said Tuesday that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy presented the name change at a closed-door ruling party-government consultation held at the National Assembly that day. One lawmaker who attended said the existing name was derived from the three mega projects, and the intent was to replace it with a Korean-language equivalent.

No other substantive reporting on the bill was made at the consultation beyond the name change, sources said. The Democratic Party had initially set a goal of introducing the bill this month and passing it before the end of the year, but the party now appears to be easing off that pace.

Rep. Jang Cheol-min, who leads the ruling party's side on the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee, told reporters after a Sept. 4 ruling party-government consultation of the Democratic Party's Special Committee on Mega Projects and Regional Growth Support — at which a draft of the bill was presented — that he believed the bill should be introduced in September and passed during the current regular session of the National Assembly.

Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok also said in his floor speech at the opening of the regular session on Sept. 7 that passing the Mega Special Zone Act would be the legislature's top priority.

However, there is growing sentiment that the white-collar exemption provision — which has drawn sharp disagreement between labor and industry — will not be included in the final bill, departing from the government's original draft. A ruling party-government official said the prevailing view is that there is no pressing need to include the white-collar exemption, adding that critics have questioned whether inserting it into the Mega Special Zone Act carries any added value beyond what is already covered under the Labor Standards Act and the Semiconductor Special Act.