Chairman Chung Woo-taik of the National Assembly National Policy Committee hosted a public debate on the national agenda to brace for future challenges of the nation. He also became the host of the 2014 National Assembly Smart Water Forum. 

Following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and Chairman Chung in which he spoke of his parliamentary activities. 

Question: Will you tell our readers about the pending issues and major tasks you have to handle as the chairman of the National Assembly National Policy Committee during the second half of the 19th National Assembly?

Answer: In accordance with the third clause of Article 1 of the Act on the National Assembly, the National Assembly National Policy Committee has jurisdiction over the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, the Fair Trade Commission, the Financial Services Commission and Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission.

One high-profile issue related to the National Assembly National Policy Committee is about former Rep. Kim Young-ran’s Measure on anti-corruption, which failed to gain approval from the Legislation and Judiciary Committee during a previous plenary session. I regretted the failure.

The National Assembly National Policy Committee is now redoing the bill, not diluting it. The ruling and opposition parties have already agreed on key points of the measure, calling for the punishment of any government official taking more than 1 million won in bribes regardless his or her job. The definition of graft and the scope of conflicts of interest in connection with officials’ duties need to be clarified, however.

If the measure is enacted as it stands, it would bring about such social controversies as an implicative system and lawsuits over unconstitutionality. Under the bill, if a director in charge of the cafeteria of a national-run hospital has a cousin as a ranking official of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, or a managing editor of a state-run broadcasting network has his or her relative named as a minister, either of them would be relieved of his or her position due to their job connection. 

The much talked-about Act on Overhauling Distribution of Handsets, legislated in a hurried and slipshod fashion, has caused great inconveniences to the people. We intend to reinstate the purpose of Rep. Kim Young-ran’s Measure -- creating a corruption-free environment -- not undermining it. 

Besides, our committee is devoting itself to reinvigorating the national economy of the Republic of Korea and realizing the creative economy. We’re working toward the building of the nation in the right direction, like revamping management structures of financial groups, technology financing, revision of laws not suiting the reality and regulatory reform. I will appreciate if you display interest. 

Q: Will you explain the outcomes of the recent parliamentary interpellation into government?

A: Speaking overall, I consider it as “well done.” The committee’s parliamentary inspection, the first such one of my career as the chairman of the committee, met with a favorable reception. The National Assembly National Policy Committee was rated to be atop the evaluation of parliamentary inspection into committees by the Citizens’ Coalition for Voters on Dec. 16.

Our committee’s major tasks are about financing and fair trade. In particular, the parliamentary interpellation gave prominent coverage to problems including the management structure of KB Financial Group, the Korean financing industry has experienced, as well as unfair practices by Korean companies. The parliamentary inspection involved a relatively more extensive probe, including testifiers and reference witnesses. A stream of ways of revamping systems and good policy suggestions have been made to prevent things similar to the KB case. 

A thorough inspection has been also made into lax management involving public entities, particularly research institutes under the umbrellas of the Prime Minister’s Office. It is a good thing for them to make good on promises to fix lax management. 

I, as the chairman of the committee, do my best to ensure such unfair and irrational things can be prevented and public entities’ management could be made up to public expectations.

Q:  Will you touch on the pending issues that have been taken up at a public seminar designed to recommend the national agenda?

A: The buzzwords of the year 2014 were about “transforming the state.” Such safety issues as the Sewol ferry disaster have come to head prominently. 

Public voices demanding a turnaround of the sagging national economy get louder amid worsening external and internal uncertainties, like aging society and low growth rate, coupled with declining domestic demand and exports.

Such political reform issues as advancing the National Assembly to levels of advanced countries still remain unanswered. 

Chairman Chung of the National Assembly National Policy Committee hosted a public seminar on national agenda items in cooperation with 23 research institutes, including the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences at the National Assembly on Dec. 4. The debate was designed to take stock of the pending issues facing Korea and to suggest answers and reflect them on national policies by establishing mid- and long-term national vision and tasks.

Specifically, the seminar suggested national agendas on the establishment of infrastructure for sustainable growth in an era of aging and low growth rate, coping with global economic trends, and securing future convergence technologies under the theme “Expanding Potential for Solidifying a Virtuous Cycle of Growth, Employment and Welfare” in the economic and industrial fields. In the society/safety sector, it touched on the establishment of comprehensive responses to prevent accidents and manage disasters, and announced a national agenda in pursuit of health and welfare that guarantees a living worthy of human dignity under the theme “Korean-type welfare state for a Happy and Healthy Living.” 

The last session on the national infrastructure field dealt with nine mid- and long-term national policy agendas, including nurturing of innovative manpower to lead future society, securing energy resources, developing eco-friendly new and renewable energies, and establishing of ways of expanding social overhead capital in an era of low growth rate under the theme “Establishment of Foundation for Settlement of Sustainable Future Society.”

The 2015 public seminar will look at the specifics of national agenda points in each field in a more profound manner. 

Q: Will you comment on the National Assembly Smart Water Forum?

A: Water is deeply related to our daily life, and is a precious resource that always brings richness and benefits. But the reality is that managing this invaluable asset in a constant fashion is not only threatened by such short-term dangers as stream contamination, but also is faced with such many challenges as natural disasters, caused by climate change. These dangerous factors, albeit invisible, are lurking in the dark. 

How to cope with these challenges in the future emerges as our new task. In this respect, it is the reason the National Assembly Smart Water Forum was established. Water experts from the parliament, government and academia join forces in exploring ways of coping with water issues, including floods, caused by climate change, and improving of water management systems in Korea and abroad in the years to come.

The forum is expected to be engaged in diverse activities to handle a heap of pending issues requiring immediate action. The general public is asked to partake in the forum with support and concern. 

Q: Will you elaborate on tasks related to the development of financial and capital markets?

A: Financing is a key industry. The smooth development of the finance industry can give a shot in the arm to the economy by transfusing money to companies at just the right time, which could lead to the revitalizing of the national economy. Financing, a value-added industry rich with creative ideas, will provide a constant growth momentum for the Korean economy, which is entering an era of aging and low growth. 

The Korean financing market has a long way to go. The 2014 global competition report by the World Economic Forum showed that Korea ranked 81st in terms of market maturity, lower than such non-OECD member countries as Ghana, which ranked 52nd, Botswana (53rd) and Cambodia (65th). 

The number of finance holdings companies has increased to 13 since 2001 when Woori Finance Holdings Co. made its debut. Finance holdings companies are allowed to have such subsidiaries as banks, securities and insurance companies with the goal of having synergetic effects trough shared growth among subsidiaries and dynamics of the financial markets and enhancing the competitive edge of the Korean financial industry in Korea and abroad. The banking sector accounts for more than 80 percent of each financial group’s revenues, so the purpose of introducing the holding company system into the financial industry gets nowhere. 

The average bank’s spread of deposit and loan rates takes up some 90 percent of revenues. It means that banks rely on safe revenue resources as collateral-based loans, not trying to create new markets. The current government stresses technology finance as a key plank of the creative economy, but technology financing, albeit in a quantitative growth, has yet to gain qualitative growth. The Korean financing market has a rocky ground in which the seeds of the creative economy cannot be sown and grown. It needs to reinvent the finance holdings system and explore new revenue models. 

The development of the policy loan segment will be another challenge. (by Chung Sook Oh)