President Lee calls regulation reform 'essential,' vows to personally oversee mega-project hurdles

President Lee Jae Myung on Friday called regulatory reform "an essential task for building an irreplaceable South Korea," urging sweeping elimination of entrenched regulations and pledging to use mega-projects and super-regional special zones to drive balanced national development.

Speaking at the second plenary session of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee at Cheong Wa Dae, Lee said regulations are not inherently bad, but added that many are unnecessary, excessive or designed primarily for the administrative convenience of the regulators themselves.

"Regulatory rationalization is an essential task for building an irreplaceable South Korea," he said. "We must continue to create and strengthen regulations that protect the lives, safety and property of the people, and uphold fairness and transparency in our society — but we must also swiftly and boldly reform regulations that block new technologies and emerging industries, or that are simply outdated and burdensome."

Lee said the perspective on regulatory reform must shift from the supplier to the consumer. "From the standpoint of those subject to regulation, the rules are often unreasonable," he said. "That is why, in the area of regulatory rationalization, the views of those being regulated — or of neutral parties — matter far more than those of the regulators themselves."

He particularly pledged to take personal charge of key policies aimed at balanced regional development. "The three major mega-projects and the newly established super-regional special zone system are critical national strategies for creating new growth engines in the regions and breaking the vicious cycle of concentration in the Greater Seoul area and the disappearance of local communities," Lee said. "Since the mega-projects and super-regional special zones are major agenda items that I personally oversee, I will also directly address the on-the-ground difficulties — such as permitting and licensing issues — to be discussed at this meeting."

He also noted that the recently introduced super-regional special zone bill contains more than 300 regulatory exemptions — the largest ever in a single piece of legislation — and called for action before the law is passed. "There are things we can do even before the law is enacted," he said. "I would ask the Regulatory Rationalization Committee to move quickly and proactively to address those matters."