The sixth revision bill to the Jeju Special Act passed its first hurdle at the National Assembly.

It has been 16 months since the bill was submitted in December 2017.

The final approval of the 6th revision bill is crucial to push forward the 7th revision bill. However, the prospects for a smooth approval process appear stagnant, since national lawmakers remain indifferent and the provincial office lacks leverage in negotiations.

Mike Laidman reports.

It was back in November of last year that the province announced it had included a new 99.5 square-kilometer parcel of land in the (곶자왈) Gotjawal forest at an interim research result briefing session.

The area is 330 times the size of (마라도) Marado Island. The research was conducted to understand the conditions of the forest, as well as to come up with proper plans to preserve it.

However, right before the research was to reach its final stage, which included presenting the results to the public, a public hearing, and a final briefing, it was suddenly suspended

[slug] Research suspended as National Assembly shelved Jeju Special Act revision bill

due to the sixth revision bill to the Jeju Special Act. The act contains regulations on (곶자왈) Gotjawal designation, and thus the National Assembly chose not to include the land.

But with the examination of the revision bill delayed for more than a year,

[slug] National Assembly’s Bill Examination Subcommittee passes 6th revision bill

it was finally passed by the Bill Examination Subcommittee under the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee last week.

The bill includes regulations on (곶자왈) Gotjawal designation, penalties on parking space policies, the mandatory installation of speed limiters on rental cars, an environmental resource quota system, and the expansion of investment in public enterprises.

The bill also extends the active period for the Jeju Supporting Committee under the Office of the Prime Minister to June 2021 and allows the Jeju superintendent of education to submit comments to the supporting committee just as the governor does.

The Bill Examination Subcommittee was the first step for the revision.

The bill will now go through the committee’s general meeting, the Legislation-Judiciary Committee, the National Assembly plenary session, the Cabinet meeting, and lastly approval by the president.

Insiders say the bill gained speed after being cleared by the subcommittee.

Recording
Gang Chang-il / Member, National Assembly
The subcommittee passed the bill unanimously. All members, from both the ruling and opposition parties, support the bill. I believe that it will proceed to the next step without major difficulties.
씽크)강창일 국회의원
지금까지 여야 법안심사는 여야가 같이 모여서 만장일치로 통과되는 것이기 때문에 (이번 역시) 만장일치로 통과됐기 때문에 이 다음에 문제는 없을 것으로 생각됩니다.

[slug] National Assembly remains indifferent, unaware; Province continues to lack of negotiating power

Meanwhile, national lawmakers are indifferent to the bill and not really aware of its necessity because the provincial office lacks the negotiating power.

Regardless, it was passed by the subcommittee after a one-year-and-four-month break.

[slug] Bill submitted December 2017, passes 16 months later

The revision bill had been brought before the Bill Examination Subcommittee four times between August and December of last year, but was never discussed.

[slug] Two minor revision bills excluded

Along with the 6th major revision bill, additional revision bills to the special act that would favour vocational high school graduates being hired as level 9 civil servants and reduce golf fees were also placed on the subcommittee’s session but were rejected for regional fairness.

[Reporter] Mike Laidman
[Camera] Hyeon Gwang-hun
[CG] Kim Eun-gyo

Jeju Island now needs to push forward with the 7th revision of the Special Act to create casino taxes and ensure independence of the provincial office’s audit committee as soon as possible.

But this next step rests with the timing of the 6th revision’s final approval, meaning that the province is in a hurry.

Mike Laidman, KCTV