The 3 billion won cap on rewards for reporting unfair trading practices in capital markets, including stock manipulation, will be abolished. The 1 billion won cap on rewards for whistleblowers reporting accounting fraud will also be eliminated.
President Lee Jae-myung presided over a Cabinet meeting and the 9th Emergency Economic Inspection Meeting at the Blue House on Thursday, where 30 bills for promulgation and 18 presidential decree proposals containing the relevant measures were reviewed and approved. The government decided to fully abolish the reward payment cap to encourage internal whistleblowing. It also plans to revise the system to allow rewards of up to 30% of unfair gains and fines that are detected and recovered.
Several healthcare-related bills were also approved. First, an amendment to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act was passed, requiring pharmacists and herbal pharmacists to operate only one pharmacy. The amendment codifies a ban on operating multiple pharmacies to prevent so-called "loophole network pharmacies."
Advertisements that use AI-generated videos to make it appear that experts such as doctors, pharmacists, and university professors are recommending or endorsing specific pharmaceuticals will also be prohibited. A bill to establish a National Medical Education Institute for training public healthcare personnel was also passed. The institute will provide support including admission fees, tuition, and textbook costs, in exchange for which graduates must serve mandatorily in the public healthcare sector for 15 years after obtaining their medical licenses.
Several labor and welfare bills were also processed. First, an amendment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Act was approved, expanding the paid period of infertility treatment leave from the current two days to four days. The amendment also allows fines to be imposed — equivalent to those imposed on employers — when company representatives, business owners, or superiors and workers who are relatives of the representative commit workplace sexual harassment.
In addition, a bill was processed to strengthen the assessment of housing-vulnerable populations by including residents of substandard environments such as basements and rooftop units as separate subjects of housing condition surveys.
