As the first-ever Korean law firm to issue specialized legislative journals, D&A LLC has been publishing the monthly Policy & Business (P&B) Report since August 2019. The P&B Report provides analyses of plenary sessions of the National Assembly, as well as standing committee and subcommittee meetings. In addition, the firm has been co-hosting the Future Leaders Forum with the Herald Business, inviting chairpersons of standing committees to discuss relevant legislative issues and tasks.
 
As an extension of this service, D&A has also been issuing the Weekly Legislative Report, which covers various legal issues at the center of public debate along with editorials and columns on the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (“SAPA”) from major daily news outlets. The report will be released with an update on newly proposed or pending bills. Enclosed is this week’s legislative report, and please refer to the P&B Report for further details.
 
If you wish to subscribe to the P&B Report or have any other queries, please contact us at lc@draju.com.
 
 
1. Proposed Bill(s)
 
① Partial Amendment to the Occupational Safety and Health Act
 
This Amendment provides that if three or more fatalities occur within one year at a workplace, the business operator may be subject to a penalty surcharge of up to five percent of operating profits, in addition to criminal punishment. It also imposes an aggravated penalty surcharge of up to ten percent of operating profits for repeated violations.
 
② Partial Amendment to the Occupational Safety and Health Act

This Amendment expands the scope of the Minister of Employment and Labor’s authority to issue a work suspension order, which is currently limited to cases where a serious accident has already occurred, to also include situations where there is an imminent risk of a serious accident.

2. Pending Bill(s)
 
③ Partial Amendment to the Commercial Act

This Amendment mandates the immediate cancellation of treasury stocks upon acquisition and requires treasury stocks acquired before the enforcement of this Amendment to be cancelled within six months.
 
3. Promulgated Bill(s)
 
④ Clean Air Conservation Act
 
This Bill requires operators of charging facilities for electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles to register establishment information for their charging stations, including their location and size, in a computer network and to provide real-time facility usage information, such as charging fees.

4. Bill(s) Undergoing Pre-Announcement of Legislation/Administration

⑤ Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Establishment of a Foundation for Trustworthiness

This Bill requires business operators providing services that utilize high-impact AI or generative AI to give advance notice to their users that the services are operated using AI.

5. Serious Accidents Punishment Act ("SAPA") Related Editorials and Columns from Major Dailies
 
[Money Today] Government and Ruling Party to Impose Five Percent Operating-Profit Surcharge on Companies with Repeated Serious Accidents by November
[The Kyunghyang Shinmun] First Release of Company Names Involved in 887 Serious Industrial Accidents Resulting in Worker Fatalities and Injuries
[The Financial News] Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Aims to Halve Port Workplace Accidents by 2030 Through Workforce Expansion, SAPA Enforcement, and AI Use

*For more details, please download the PDF file attached.