The Democratic Party of Korea, which has secured the chairmanship of the National Policy Committee for the latter half of the 22nd National Assembly, plans to accelerate legislative work to support key policies of the Lee Jae-myung administration. As the government pursues real estate market stabilization measures alongside a July tax overhaul, it has also reportedly requested the establishment of a Real Estate Supervisory Service equipped with special judicial police authority. In addition, the Policy Committee plans to complete legislation this year on a stock-suppression prevention act for capital market reform and a Korea Inclusive Finance Agency act to expand policy loans for low-credit borrowers.
According to the Democratic Party on Tuesday, the National Assembly's National Policy Committee and the party's K-Capital Market Special Committee recently held meetings and selected nine bills, including the establishment of a Real Estate Supervisory Service, as major legislative tasks for the second half. One Policy Committee lawmaker said, "At the lawmakers' workshop, the establishment of a Real Estate Supervisory Service requested by the government was selected as a legislative task for the second half."
The Real Estate Supervisory Service bill currently pending in the Policy Committee calls for setting up the agency under the Office of the Prime Minister. The agency would be tasked exclusively with cracking down on violations of 26 real estate-related laws, including illegal resale, fraudulent subscriptions, and price manipulation. The bill grants employees special judicial police authority, allowing them to directly carry out coercive investigations such as searches, seizures, and arrests. It also significantly strengthens investigative powers, permitting them to check credit information such as financial transaction records and loan status without a warrant, and to conduct on-site inspections and demand the submission and confiscation of ledgers and documents.
In political circles, it is expected that the establishment of the Real Estate Supervisory Service, together with the tax reform bill the government is preparing, would serve as a symbolic measure demonstrating a commitment to market stability.
The Democratic Party also plans to accelerate capital market reform legislation. The so-called "stock-suppression prevention act," sponsored by Rep. Kim Hyun-jung, centers on requiring listed companies whose price-to-book ratio (PBR) has stayed below 1.0 for two consecutive years to mandatorily disclose measures to boost their share prices. Also included among the second-half agenda items is a revision to the Capital Markets Act that introduces a mandatory tender offer system to protect shareholders during mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and provisions to give general shareholders of a parent company priority in the allocation of new shares in the event of a physical spinoff.
Rep. Park Sang-hyuk, elected as the Policy Committee's secretary, said at the K-Capital Market Special Committee meeting the same day, "In the case of the Capital Markets Act, there are bills that need to be handled urgently," adding, "We will legislate in the Policy Committee the bills discussed in the K-Capital Market Special Committee."
The Microfinance Support Act, a core task of the "inclusive finance" policy pursued by the Lee Jae-myung administration, also made the list of key legislative targets for the second half. The bill calls for creating a Microfinance Stability Fund to secure a stable source of funding for policy financial products such as Sunshine Loans and to expand loans for low-credit borrowers.
A Policy Committee official said, "While the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency handles policy loans, there have been criticisms that funding is not stable and supply lacks flexibility," explaining, "If the Microfinance Stability Fund is established, it will become possible to supply policy loan products stably."
The Online Platform Act, aimed at regulating online platform operators such as Coupang, is also expected to be intensively reviewed in the National Assembly in the second half. The Democratic Party had effectively suspended discussions on regulatory legislation related to Coupang in consideration of issues raised by the U.S. Congress, but it has recently settled on a direction to resume the legislative discussions, according to sources.
Rep. Park said, "The U.S. House Judiciary Committee published a distorted report relying solely on Coupang's one-sided, self-exonerating statements without verifying objective facts, and many citizens are worried," adding, "Coupang cannot reign above the Republic of Korea's judicial system. I ask for bipartisan cooperation to protect the Republic of Korea's judicial sovereignty and national interest."
The Policy Committee also plans to push for a hearing related to the growing Homeplus case, in which a court decided to reject the rehabilitation proceedings. Rep. Min Byoung-dug of the Democratic Party argued, "This is not a simple corporate insolvency but a typical disaster for ordinary people caused by a predatory private equity fund that acquires companies with high leverage and then dumps them after gutting them." He added, "The predatory financial techniques of MBK and suspicions of Capital Markets Act violations must be thoroughly investigated." However, with the People Power Party not participating in the Policy Committee, it remains unclear whether the ruling party will hold the hearing on its own.
In addition, the Policy Committee and the K-Capital Market Special Committee decided to strengthen market monitoring of single-stock leveraged ETFs, in which investment money is concentrated in a few stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Oh Ki-hyoung, chairman of the K-Capital Market Special Committee, said, "If necessary measures are needed, I wonder whether we should present a direction while communicating with the market, but for now it is a situation to watch."
