The ruling party has introduced follow-up legislation to the "K-Steel Law" aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of Korea's domestic steel industry.
Rep. Eo Gi-koo of the Democratic Party of Korea, who chairs the National Assembly Steel Forum, said Monday that he had led the sponsorship of four package bills reflecting the demands of pre-emptive industrial crisis response regions, including Dangjin in South Chungcheong Province, Pohang in North Gyeongsang Province, and Gwangyang in South Jeolla Province, where the steel industry and major steel mills are located. The bills consist of amendments to the Electric Utility Act, the Restriction of Special Taxation Act, the Special Act on Regional Industrial Crisis Response and Regional Economic Recovery, and the Customs Act.
The amendments include measures to ease the burden of electricity charges in pre-emptive industrial crisis response regions where steel mills are located. The bills would exempt these regions from the Electric Power Industry Infrastructure Fund levy, which has been imposed on industrial electricity. They would also include the steel industry among national strategic technologies to expand tax support for research and development (R&D) and facility investment, and exempt the basic tariff on steel sub-materials that are heavily dependent on imports, easing the cost burden on steel companies. The bills also include measures to ease the requirements for designating pre-emptive industrial crisis response regions and to extend the designation period from the current maximum of two years to five years.
