President Lee Jae-myung stressed on Thursday that "high-tech industries need to shift to negative regulation."
At the first plenary meeting of the Regulatory Rationalization Committee held at Cheong Wa Dae, President Lee said, "Growth potential keeps declining, and I've been thinking about how to turn it upward. There are various methods such as massive fiscal spending or streamlining inefficient areas, but ultimately what matters for Korea's economy is gaining international competitiveness within the massive trend of being a trading nation."
"International competitiveness ultimately comes down to industries, companies, and individuals," he analyzed. "It lies in strengthening individual capabilities, corporate capabilities, and industrial capabilities."
He then stated, "It is necessary to eliminate unnecessary or inefficient regulations, to globalize regulations to match international standards, and to shift to negative regulation in high-tech industries."
President Lee noted, "Until now, we had positive regulation where the government listed what was allowed and absolutely prohibited everything else. This had its reasons when industrial development was at a lower stage."
He continued, "As industry and technology advance and social development reaches higher levels, the public sector falls behind the private sector. When people in the field say, 'We need to do this,' they have to change regulations and obtain permits, and competitiveness is lost in this process."
